


Our Choices: Book 1

by rosariotae



Series: Our Choices [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Blaise Zabini is a Good Friend, Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Canon Compliant, Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter Friendship, F/M, Good Draco Malfoy, Happy Harry Potter, Harry Potter Has a Saving People Thing, James Potter & Lily Evans Potter Live, James Potter Lives, Lily Evans Potter Lives, M/M, POV Harry Potter, Prankster Harry Potter, Quidditch Player Harry Potter, Sassy Harry Potter, Severus Snape Has a Heart, Severus Snape is Bad at Feelings, Slytherin Harry Potter, Slytherins Being Slytherins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:21:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27511459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosariotae/pseuds/rosariotae
Summary: Instead of casting the killing curse at Lily and James Potter, the Dark Lord simply casts a stunning spell.Now Harry Potter is eleven years old and heading off to Hogwarts. The story may be similar, but this time the boy-who-lived wears a different coloured tie with a new set of friends.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Our Choices [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2010646
Comments: 26
Kudos: 178





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a mix of the books and movies combined into the story. I want to apologise in advance for any grammatical errors as this is my first full book. This series will eventually be Draco/Harry, but it will be a very slow burn.
> 
> I want to say again that I'm sorry if there are plot inconsistencies or grammatical errors. I will fix them over time and as this story develops so bare with me.
> 
> I hope you enjoy! I will be posting randomly, but I promise you the book is already done.

**October 31st 1981**

Lily smiled at the sight of her husband and son together, both already in their pajamas as it was getting late. Harry was giggling as bubbles appeared from his father’s hands, his small hands attempting to grab them.

“You don’t want to rile him up before bed,” Lily told James, but her smile contradicted her words.

It was surprisingly quiet and peaceful for a Halloween night, the first year in years that they didn’t have children knocking on their door for candy. In a way, it was almost too peaceful.

The smell of cinnamon and pumpkin was present inside the house from their own small celebration of the holiday. When Voldemort was gone, their son would hopefully get to go out with other kids and dress up.

The front gate creaked, disturbing the peaceful silence that they were in. James walked towards the front door, looking through the peephole with Harry resting on his hip.

James’ eyes widened and a flash of betrayal crossed his face. “Peter betrayed us, take Harry and run,” he told his wife and a cold feeling washed over Lily, but she listened and took her son.

She heard the front door blast open as she rushed up the stairs and headed straight towards Harry’s nursery. “Stupefy!” She heard from downstairs, along with a body hitting the ground as she closed the door and locked it.

Lily looked around the room, looking for anything. Then realization dawned on her that her wand was downstairs on the coffee table. Tears pricked at her eyes as she placed Harry in his cot, smiling softly at him as he looked at her with those innocent green eyes.

“Mama loves you, Harry. Don’t forget that, okay? Your mama and papa love you so much, more than anything else,” she whispered to him and placed a kiss on his head as the bedroom door was blasted off its hinges.

She stood in front of her son, staring at the Dark Lord. “Please not my baby. Kill me instead,” she begged, “He’s just a baby,” she continued, tears streaming down her face.

“Move aside, girl,” Riddle said, his wand pointing directly at her. When she didn’t move, he sent a stunning spell in her direction. Then he saw the little boy in his cot, who still hadn’t made a single sound. If he’d had an humanity left in him, he would’ve felt bad at the look of pure innocence on the boy’s face.

“Avada kedavra!” He yelled, pointing his wand at the baby. Something went wrong, because time seemed to freeze as the curse hit the child on his forehead, but then bounced back and Tom Riddle was enveloped in a green light.

Harry Potter was now crying, there was a small wound on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt. All that was left of the man that attacked him was a heap of black robes that the man had been wearing.

“Mama,” Harry called out, staring at her unmoving body from behind the bars of his cot.

He cried for a few hours until finally someone he recognized appeared, his Uncle Sirius was standing in the doorway. A look of relief appearing on the young adult’s face when he saw Harry.

“Hey, kiddo,” he said gently, scooping up Harry into his arms. He inspected the wound on Harry’s forehead curiously, noticing the odd shape to it. Then he saw the pile of clothes on the floor. He let out a soft curse despite the child in his arms.

“Rennervate,” Sirius said and pointed his wand at Lily. He allowed himself to relax just a bit when she started to move. He quickly left the room, still holding Harry as he went to the bottom of the stairs to cast it on James.

Sirius was beyond grateful that Voldemort had simply sent a stunning spell, but he was a bit confused. Voldemort had a reputation of kill right away and talk about it later.

He sent a patronus to Dumbledore, telling him to come to Godric’s Hollow immediately.

“Harry,” was James’ first word as his eyes snapped open.

“Is in my arms, James. Everyone’s okay, although it looks like the Dark Lord didn’t get such a happy ending,” Sirius comforted his friend, a relieved smile on his face.

Later that night the Potter’s along with the rest of the order members were gathered in Dumbledore’s office. “Is it true? Is he really dead?” Were the first words out of Dedalus Diggle’s mouth as Albus walked into the room.

“It would appear so,” Dumbledore said, answering the wizard’s question. There was a moment of silence before people started cheering, smiles appearing on faces as they hugged each other. As Dumbledore watched the pure joy happening in front of him, he decided it was best not to tell them that he believed that Tom would come back one day.

“We have one person to thank though, Harry Potter. It seems as though the killing curse rebounded off of him,” Dumbledore told everyone, stunning them back into silence.

Once again, there were cheers again as the wizards and witches went over to coo over the toddler who was now sporting a lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

“To Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived!” Shouted someone as everyone raised their glasses.

“To Harry Potter!” Everyone responded.


	2. Harry Potter and The Train Ride to Hogwarts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is technically the first length chapter! I hope you all enjoy it at least.
> 
> Also a heads up, this is told in Harry's POV.

I let out a sound of triumph as I held the snitch in my hand, my father groaning once more, having lost three times in a row. “If you don’t make seeker at school my entire life is a lie,” he said after patting me on my back.

“We also got to talk about what you wanna do for your birthday,” Dad added, a grin appearing on his face as we both entered the kitchen where my mother was. She was standing in front of a cauldron, her red hair tied in a bun as she stirred whatever potion she decided to work on today.

“Maybe see a muggle film then head out for some ice cream?” I asked my dad hopefully, watching him as he began making dinner along with a dessert for when Uncle Sirius and Remus came over.

“Of course. We’ll have to check what films they’re playing first. Can you do that, Lils?” Father asked mum, who hummed softly in response. “You should also finish that up before Padfoot ‘n Moony get here.”

“I’m just about done anyways. I’m working on a potion to fix eyesight, mainly for our son since you seem to have passed down your terrific eyesight to him,” Mum said with a fond smile on her face.

Father looked slightly offended at the thought of her trying to fix my eyesight, making me laugh slightly. “I wouldn’t mind not having these things,” I said and tapped the rim of my glasses.

“But all Potter men have glasses,” Dad said, a look of concern on his face. “Well, at least he has the Potter hair,” he admitted after my mother shot him a glare.

There was a knock on the door and seconds later it was swinging open as Sirius and Remus entered. “Harry!” Sirius shouted as I ran up and hugged him. “I got something for ya,” Sirius said, handing me a book titled ‘Great Jinxes for Enemies’.

“It isn’t his birthday just yet, wait before you get him anything else,” Mum told Sirius as she cleaned up her cauldron and the ingredients she had scattered on the table.

I quickly gave Remus a hug, smiling up at him as he returned it. Remus always smelled like cinnamon and pumpkin, a comforting smell that made you feel relaxed no matter the situation.

“What we having for dinner, James?” Sirius said as he entered the kitchen, putting his arm around my dad.

“You excited about Hogwarts?” Remus asked me, a warm smile on his face, making the scar across his neck look a bit less scary.

“More than excited! I can’t wait to be sorted into Gryffindor and make the Quidditch team. Then I’m going to get good grades in all of my classes and become an auror just like dad,” I gushed to Remus. My face was nearly hurting with how much I was smiling.

“I’m sure you’ll do wonderful in Hogwarts. Both of your parents had very good grades in school and I’ve already seen you on a broom, there’s no doubt in my mind you’ll make the Quidditch team,” Remus told me, squeezing my shoulder before standing up to go and talk to my mum.

Both of my parents had been in Gryffindor and made Head boy and Head girl, with insanely good grades that made me slightly nervous about starting Hogwarts. The only thing I knew I was good at was Quidditch and it seemed a bit intimidating thinking about what I had to live up to.

The other thing that had me nervous was the stares I’d receive, along with the whispers. Everyone knew my name, all because I didn’t die when Voldemort tried to kill me. Ask any wizard about me and they could tell you who my parents were and why I was so famous.

The good thing about having the Potter hair was that it easily covered the scar on my forehead, although the scar had faded a bit. The whiteness of the scar still stood out against my tan complexion, making it noticeable.

“Dinner time!” My dad called and I headed straight towards the kitchen table.

My parents let me sleep in on my birthday, my mum came into my room to wake me up at 10:00 so I could shower and get dressed. I practically skipped down the stairs and to the table, excited for the day that awaited me.

“Happy birthday, bud,” my dad said, pulling me in for a quick yet tight hug. “Look what came,” he said, holding a letter with the Hogwarts crest on it in front of me.

I snatched it out of his hand, freaking out as I ripped it open and read the note. “I’m going to Hogwarts! Dad, I’m going!” I yelled excitedly, a bright smile on my face as I looked at the letter in my hands. “When can we get my things? Can I get an owl?” I asked, turning to both of my parents.

“Why don’t we get them after the movie today, then we can go to Florean Fortescue’s for some ice cream once we’re done,” my mum said, looking at my dad who nodded in agreement.

Sirius and Remus were once again coming over, entering our home with a pile of presents in their arms, much to my mother’s disapproval and my joy. “He’s my godson, I gotta spoil him. The eleventh birthday is the most important one,” he told her and she couldn’t help but agree with the last statement.

I started off with Sirius’ presents. The first one was a leather jacket with a stag on the back, along with a pair of jeans and a muggle band t-shirt. The next present included a Sony Walkman along with a few cassette tapes of the same muggle band on the t-shirt. On top of that, I received a few gifts from Zonko's joke shop.

Remus gave me a diary with an unlimited amount of pages, Harry J. Potter engraved on the bottom right corner of the cover. It also came with regular ink and invisible ink. Unsurprisingly, Remus bought a 46 pack of chocolate frogs. I had to refrain from opening them, wanting to see what cards I got.

The first present from my parents was a Nimbus 2000, making me let out a girlish squeal when I saw the handle. I also received a broom cleaning kit, a broom case, and my own set of Quidditch balls such as the quaffle, bludgers, and the snitch.

“Thank you so much,” I said as I threw myself at my parents, hugging them tightly.

I really did mean it, I was so unbelievably happy I could hardly comprehend anything. Along with all of this, I was also going to get to go to the movies and then get my Hogwarts supplies.

“I know you can’t have your broom first year, but we can play for the rest of the summer that we got,” my dad told me, scratching behind his ear.

“We should play later tonight when we get back from Diagon Alley.” I looked up from my broom and smiled at him.

“Go put your gifts up in your room, we have a movie to get to,” my mum said, putting her hair up in a ponytail as she stood up. I rushed to throw all of my new gifts on my bed, hesitating before deciding to put on my new leather jacket.

“Merlin, he looks like a muggle delinquent thanks to you,” my dad said and at the same time Sirius said, “he looks perfect.”

“He pulls it off,” Remus said, smiling at me before placing a hand on my shoulder as we exited my home. I held onto Remus as we apparated, appearing in an alley along with my parents and Remus. “We’re going to see Terminator 2, right?” He asked me and I nodded excitedly.

The cinema wasn’t too busy when we appeared and we managed to get tickets all next to each other. “Two large popcorns and five coca colas,” my mum said, handling the muggle money as none of us knew a thing about their currency.

The movie was amazing, I was ranting to Sirius about what had happened in it despite the fact that he had also watched it with me. He looked amused as I ranted, in fact I didn’t even stop ranting until we appeared in Diagon Alley.

I never got sick of seeing Diagon Alley, the street was always full of such bright colors and a comforting sense of chaos.

I saw a large tall man, instantly recognizing him as Hagrid. He was walking into Gringotts, it was in the opposite direction of where we had to go. I waved to him, but he didn’t happen to see it as he was focused on whatever he was going to do.

“Let’s get your robes first,” my mum said as she led me towards Madam Malkin’s. My mother browsed through the other clothes as I stood up on one of the stools, next to a boy with platinum blond hair.

“Are you a first year too?” I asked him shyly, offering him a friendly smile.

“Yeah, what house do you think you’ll be in? I’m pretty sure I’ll be in Slytherin like my parents, but Ravenclaw also sounds pretty nice. I’m Draco Malfoy,” he told me, allowing the blank expression he had on before to fall.

I knew who the Malfoy family was, but I decided to give Draco the benefit of the doubt and not judge him by his father. “Ravenclaw sounds cool, but I think I’ll be Gryffindor, I don’t know yet. My name’s Harry, Harry Potter,” I told him, stepping down from the stool after Madam Malkin told me I was done.

His eyes widened a bit, but I was thankful he didn’t say anything on it. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Potter,” he said and held out his hand for me to shake. I shook it and headed towards my mum, feeling a bit better about going to Hogwarts.

I already managed to make an acquaintance within 15 minutes of being Diagon Alley.

“Dad, I met someone already! He’s a first year like me,” I told my dad as soon I rejoined him, Remus, and Sirius.

“Oh? What’s his name?” He asked me as we made our way to Flourish and Blotts for my school books.

“Draco Malfoy,” I told him, trying to ignore the quick look he exchanged with my mum and Sirius. Remus seemed to be unaffected, smiling at me and congratulating me on meeting someone already.

“We need _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1_ ,” my mum said, breaking the awkward silence that had appeared. I wandered around the bookshop as my mum went to grab my books.

I spotted a book that caught my interest, it was called _‘Hogwarts: A History’_ by Bathilda Bagshot. I’m fairly certain she used to live close to us when I was younger, but I wasn’t positive. I grabbed the book, heading towards my dad to ask him if I could buy it.

“I hear that book is pretty popular, of course you can have it,” Dad told me, ruffling my hair and making it messier than it normally was.

We ended up leaving the shop with a total of 10 new books. “Remus, wanna take Harry to get his wand? I’m gonna go get something,” Dad said, before whispering something to Sirius who grinned.

“Of course,” Remus said and began leading me towards Ollivander’s. A bell rang when we walked inside, but it took about a minute before a creepy old man with striking blue eyes appeared.

“Ah, Harry Potter. I’ve been expecting you. I remember your parents coming in here for their wands. How are those wands faring them?” He asked me. Ollivander was s creepy looking man with electrifying blue eyes and white hair.

“G-Good I guess,” I stuttered out, not knowing how to really respond to that.

“Good, Good. Now hold out your wand arm,” he said and I held out my right arm straight away. A measuring tape appeared next to my arm as Ollivander scribbled something down on a piece of parchment.

“Try this one,” Ollivander said, handing me a wand, but nothing happened. That was the first of many wands that didn’t work for me.

The pile of wands was growing increasingly large at a rapid pace and Remus was laughing slightly as I grew more frustrated. “I wonder…” I heard Ollivander mutter under his breath, peaking my interest.

“Holly, 11 inches long, with a phoenix feather core,” Ollivander said and handed me the wand. The second my hand was wrapped around it a breeze went past me and a feeling of warmth spread throughout me. “That’s clearly the one,” Ollivander said after a moment.

“How curious,” I heard him mutter.

“Excuse me, sir. What’s curious?” I asked him, one of my eyebrows raised.

“I only received two feathers from the Phoenix that is in the core of your wand, the other wand that came from the same phoenix is the same person that gave you that scar,” Ollivander said, staring at the spot on my forehead where my scar was.

Remus quickly paid and rushed me out of the store. “You won’t tell my parents, will you? Please promise me?” I asked Remus, stopping in the middle of the alley.

He seemed to hesitate a minute before nodding and saying, “I promise.”

When we met up with my parents my mum had my potions supplies and my dad was holding a cage with a snowy white owl inside. My wand was quickly forgotten about as I gushed over my new pet, letting her nip at my fingers.

The morning of September 1st was surprisingly an utter mess despite me being the only child in the house. Sirius and Remus came of course, wanting to see me off to Hogwarts. My mum woke me up by going through my trunk, making sure I had everything I needed inside.

I rolled out of bed, slipping into the shower as my dad most likely made breakfast.

I got dressed in a button up shirt and pair of black pants before heading downstairs, deciding that I’d put on my cloak when we got ready to leave. “Morning!” I said cheerfully, greeting Sirius and Remus with a hug as I took a seat at the table.

“I can’t believe you’re already going to Hogwarts,” my mum said, looking as though she was about to cry.

“Save the crying for the train station, Lils,” Dad said with a grin, rubbing her shoulder gently. “We gotta embarrass him in some way,” he added and winked at me when I glared at him.

When breakfast was done I headed back upstairs and managed to convince Hedwig my owl to get into her cage.

My dad slipped into my room, a playful grin on his face. I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to speak. He pulled out what seemed to be a cloak. “This is a tradition that’s been done for hundreds of years in our family. This right here is an invisibility cloak, one of the Potter heirlooms. It’s how I got away with all of those things during my time at Hogwarts,” dad said and handed me it.

I looked at it in shock, “Dad I-” I began.

“You better use it wisely, preferably to cast a good few pranks a few times each year,” he cut me off, smiling at me and then pulling me into a tight hug. “Bury it in the bottom of your trunk so your mum doesn’t find it,” he added with a wink.

When I appeared on the platform of 9 and ¾ I could only look around in wonder, staring at the scarlet train as the steam appeared at the front of the train. It was simply beautiful. I was actually going to Hogwarts, I’d finally get to study magic.

“Gonna miss you, kiddo,” Sirius murmured as he pulled me into a tight hug. My mother tried not to cry as she hugged me, but failed horribly and made me slightly uncomfortable.

“Try not to get detention the first week,” Dad told me with a wink, but even he was a little teary-eyed. I’m pretty sure he would never admit that though.

“Make sure to study well, make friends, and don’t hesitate to owl me if you have any questions,” Remus told me, bending down a bit to reach my eye level. I nodded, offering him a smile and a hug. “Go on, make some friends,” he said and pushed me gently towards the train.

My trunk was a bit heavy, along with trying to carry Hedwig without hurting her. A pair of red-haired twins that I recognized to be Weasleys helped me get my carriage into one of the compartments.

“You’re Harry Potter,” one of them said when I wiped my forehead because I was sweating. I instantly felt a bit uncomfortable, but nodded despite that. “It’s nice to meet ya, enjoy the train ride,” the other one said and they left.

I fell into my seat, placing Hedwig next to me and taking off my cloak. The train was five minutes away from leaving when I spotted Draco, he was walking by with two dumb looking boys by his side.

He paused in front of my compartment, waving at me and opening the door. “Mind if I sit with you?” He asked me, giving a stern look to the two boys with him that made them scamper off.

“S-sure,” I stuttered out, gesturing to the seat across from me.

He took the seat, offering me a shy smile. “Who came with you to the station?” He asked me when he saw me wave at my parents, Remus, and Sirius.

“My parents, my Godfather Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin their friend,” I told him and his eyes widened a bit at the mention of my Godfather.

“Sirius Black is my mum’s cousin,” he told me and I felt as though I had already known that, I kept quiet though. “You still think you’re gonna end up in Gryffindor? I wouldn’t mind having you in my house,” he asked me just as the train began slowly moving.

“I don’t see myself in any other house. Why don’t you think about Gryffindor?” I asked him with a smirk, giggling slightly at the utter look of disgust on his face.

“A Malfoy in Gryffindor? Imagine what my father would think,” he said with a shudder and I couldn’t help but agree with him. Draco had an air of elegance around him, something that probably came along with being a Malfoy.

“Yeah, that’s like a Potter in Slytherin,” I told him with a snort and he let out a laugh in response.

“I can see your point now, that does seem a bit odd. Especially with your hair, no offence but you’d stand out straight away amongst all of us. It looks so messy,” Draco said as he eyed my hair curiously, his hand reaching out to touch it.

“At least it’s soft,” he said, before quickly pulling his hand away. A blush had appeared on his face, most likely due to embarrassment.

“Is that how Malfoys are supposed to act in public?” I teased him, a grin on my face as he playfully shoved me.

I’d say we both bought too much when the Trolley came by, but I didn’t really care as I tore into one of my chocolate frogs. “Blimey, I got Dumbledore again,” I said with a sigh, shoving his card into my trunk.

“I have about ten of him,” Draco said as he opened his own. “I think this is a sign,” he said and showed me his card. It was of Salazar Slytherin, making me laugh a bit. “You’re not that bad for someone who claims they’re gonna be a Gryffindor,” Draco muttered.

“Same can be said as you,” I replied, smiling a bit. I had heard many things about Slytherins from my dad and Sirius. I heard the term ‘slimy snakes’ being used to describe them more than once.

“Come on,” Draco waved at me to follow him when we arrived at Hogwarts. You couldn’t see the castle yet, so I followed Draco along with the other 1st years to a few boats. I looked over the edge of the boat, wondering if I’d see the giant squid.

Draco shoved my head down just as we turned, there was a lower part that would’ve smacked me in the face if he hadn’t done it.

I didn’t have a chance to thank him, because there was Hogwarts. It was more than beautiful, a large castle that glowed in the darkness of the night. The lights from the castle reflected on the lake, making the surroundings look even prettier.

“Wow,” Draco said and I couldn’t help but agree with that.


	3. Harry Potter and the Unexpected Sorting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I quite liked writing this chapter so I hope you all enjoy it!

Inside the castle was even more magnificent than the outside. Paintings hung from the stone walls and hanging from the ceiling was a sleek golden chandelier with candles burning. There were suits of armor hanging against the walls too and I had a distinct feeling they were aware of their surroundings.

“Follow me,” a stern looking woman said, dressed in dark green robes with a black witch hat adorning her head.

We followed her through the school to a set of doors and behind them you could hear loud chatter from what I assumed were the rest of the students.

“I am Professor McGonall, tonight you will be sorted into your Hogwarts house. There are 4 houses at our school, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin,” she said. Her eyes happened to land on Draco at the word Slytherin. “The house you are in will be like your family for the next few years. Now, I will be right back so please wait here,” she said and walked in the doors.

An excited chatter broke out, people wondering what houses they were gonna be in. A voice broke through the mixed chatter, directed at me.

“You’re Harry Potter, aren’t you?” The red-haired boy asked me and I instantly recognised him as one of the Weasleys. Everyone had stopped talking and was now staring at me. I hesitantly nodded and his eyes landed on my forehead. “Do you have the scar?” He asked me straightforwardly.

“Would you be kind enough to leave him alone? You’re making him uncomfortable, Weasley,” Draco said, talking a bit differently compared to how he’d been with me in the safety of our compartment on the train.

“Who was talking to you, Malfoy?” Weasley said, and I instantly saw the animosity they held for each other in their eyes. This wasn’t just because of me, it was most likely because of the long standing feud between the Weasleys and Malfoys.

The rivalry could be traced back over 100 years ago, when the Weasleys were still considered to be noble. No one knew specifics, but it involved an arranged marriage between the two families.

“What’s going on here, boys?” McGonagall asked, her arms folded over her chest as she looked at them. They stepped away from each other instantly, Draco returning to my side.

“Nothing, Miss.” She let it drop after Draco responded, instead leading us into the great hall.

Even Draco gasped when we entered, the ceiling was of the night sky and there were countless floating candles above all of us. Above each house table was a flag for the house with an animal on it.

Ravenclaw was blue and silver with an eagle on theirs. Hufflepuff was black and gold, a badger as their animal. The Gryffindors were red and gold, with a lion on their flag. Then there was Slytherin, green and silver with a serpent on their flag.

She walked us down the aisle and the older students spared us a quick glance before turning to look at the front of the great hall where an old battered hat sat upon a stool.

“You will be sorted in alphabetical order, all you have to do is sit on this stool and place the hat on your head,” McGonagall instructed us, offering a smile for those who seemed nervous. “Abbott, Hannah,” She called.

The first girl was sorted into Hufflepuff and the table full of black and gold exploded with cheers.

I waited patiently as she went through the students, giving Draco a pat on the back when she called his name. The hat had barely touched his head before putting him in Slytherin. I cheered for him, despite any thoughts I had about his new house.

A few names after Draco it was my turn, and the hall went silent when she called out “Potter, Harry.”

I slowly walked up to the stool, trying to block out all the whispers and stares so I shut my eyes. She placed the hat on my head, blocking out all other noise and suddenly a voice appeared in my head.

_Well, well, if it isn’t Harry Potter. Hm, it seems as though you have quite the amount of courage, but it also seems as though you’re very ambitious and cunning. You want to achieve great things and prove that you’re more than just that scar, eh? You’ll achieve anything to achieve your goals it seems. It must be…_ SLYTHERIN!” The hat yelled out loud before I could protest.

There was an awkward silence in the Great Hall as I removed the hat and handed it to McGonagall. Draco was the first to start clapping and then the rest of Slytherin house joined.

All I could think about as I made my way to the table was, _what would my parents think?_

I looked down at my robes and noticed the Slytherin crest on it and my tie was now green and silver. “You said you’d be a bloody Gryffindor,” Draco hissed in my ear as I sat down next to him.

I responded with a slight shrug, not fully comprehending it myself. I was so sure I’d be in Gryffindor like my parents, everyone always said I was so much like my dad. If that was true, why was I now wearing the colors green and silver?

“Theodore Nott,” said the boy from across the table, holding out his hand for me to shake.

I took it and about ten minutes later a black boy by the name Blaise Zabini sat next to me. He had high defined cheekbones, and sharp brown eyes that seemed to stare you down, somewhat like Draco’s gray ones.

“A pleasure to meet you,” I told Blaise, bowing my head just a bit towards the other boy.

He offered me a smile and I began realizing this wouldn’t be all that bad, they seemed friendly so far. At least I was making friends, but what would my parents think? I’m from the same house as Voldemort and a decent amount of death eaters were from here too.

“Where are you from, Harry?” Pansy Parkinson asked me as soon as Dumbledore’s speech ended. We had all begun digging into the food that appeared in front of us, but others seemed interested in socializing.

“Godric’s Hollow, but I don’t live there anymore. My parents and I live closer to London now,” I told her before taking a bite of the chicken on my plate.

“I live in Wiltshire with my mum and dad, those two don’t live too far,” Draco said, pointing to Crabbe and Goyle who were already eating treacle tart. “My parents also have a home in France though, so we sometimes go there in the summer,” he added on, taking a bite of his vegetables.

“Our manor is in an undisclosed location, mum says I’m not allowed to tell anyone,” Blaise said, joining in on the conversation.

We chatted amongst ourselves and I learned that Blaise’s mum had seven different husbands already, Draco had a bunch of peacocks at his manor, and Millicent Bulstrode was one hell of a beater.

“Before all of you students head back to your common room, I would like to make an announcement,” Dumbledore began and everyone turned to look at him. “The Third-Floor Corridor is now off limits unless anyone wishes to die a very painful death.”

“Bloody mental he is,” I heard Theodore mutter.

“Follow me, first years,” Gemma Farley said, leading us through the halls and down into the dungeons. We stopped in front of a stone wall and she said the password, “True”. A passageway appeared and we entered the common room.

You could see the lake above us through the glass and there seemed to be quite a lot of green and silver decorating the room.

“Welcome to Slytherin, the house of cunning and ambition. Professor Snape, our head of house will be arriving shortly. He will be the one to give the welcoming speech, so the upper years can all head to their dorms,” she instructed the older students, who all listened immediately.

I remember seeing Snape at dinner, he wore all black robes and had a very intense glare. It was so intense that a pain had shot through my head, around where my scar was. Something about the way Snape glared at me gave me a feeling that he did not like me.

At that moment Snape entered the room, his black robes billowing behind him as he made his way to stand in front of us.

He gave us all a calculating stare before speaking. “Slytherin house is one of the most hated houses in Hogwarts, as I’m sure most of you know. You will be picked on, harassed, and called horrible things. It is my job to take care of all of you, protect you, and be someone you can talk to when you’re struggling.”

“These next few years at Hogwarts will contain your most precious memories and here you will find friends. Some friends will stay by your side, whereas some may even betray you. You will have issues with your fellow housemates, but it is important that we stand as a united front outside of this room. You will have to work hard to achieve your goals, because there are many people that do not wish for you to succeed.”

“The good thing about all of this though, is that you’ll find your family away from home. I will act like your guardian and parent when you are away from your family. I expect to be respected and have everyone listen to my rules. The door right there leads to my office, all you must do is knock and I will attempt to get there as soon as possible. In your dorms there is also a lever that you can pull in case of emergencies in your dormitory. I expect you to use it in extreme cases,” Snape spoke softly, his eyes going over each and every one of us. Despite the softness to his voice, there was a sense of authority in his tone.

“There will be a list on the bulletin board of all potions we will be covering in my class this month, along with study session times with me, and the total amount of house points. Off to bed now, boys to the right and girls to the left,” he instructed us, waving us along.

“I will also be having an individual meeting with all of you over the course of the week. My office is open all the time, rest well for tomorrow,” Snape said as we all made our way up the stairs.

“That was one hell of a speech,” Draco said as we entered the 1st years dormitories.

I couldn’t help but agree with him, that’ll be a speech that will stick with me for the rest of my time at Hogwarts.

We all got dressed into our pajamas after finding our beds, mine was between Theo and Draco’s. The last candle blown out was Blaise’s before the room was engulfed in darkness. I stared at the closed curtains around my bed, they were green.

I would have to write a letter to my parents tomorrow morning when I went to visit Hedwig in the Owlery. What was I gonna say? Would they be upset?

Despite my worries, I managed to drift off into sleep fairly quickly.

“Get up, Potter,” Draco said, ripping open my curtains. His hair was sticking up everywhere and it almost looked a bit curly without all of the gel in it.

“Hmm,” I groaned into my pillow, hugging it closely to my chest. “What time is it?” I asked him, reaching blindly for my glasses. He shoved them in my hand and told me it was 7:45 in the morning.

“Classes start at 9 in the morning and we have to get to the Great Hall for breakfast so hurry up,” he ordered me. “You can shower now, I already went,” he told me as he got dressed in his Slytherin robes.

I rolled out of my bed, grabbing my clothes, shampoo, and body wash before heading in the bathroom. It was very clean in the bathroom, everything was sparkling clean and it looked as though it had been remodeled recently.

My shower only took ten minutes, but my hair was taking forever to dry with a towel. I would really need to learn a drying spell now that I was at Hogwarts. I attempted to brush it, so I wouldn’t stand out too much amongst the other boys.

It worked a little bit, it at least looked like it was purposefully messy.

Draco was waiting for me by the door to our dormitory. I rushed to grab my bag and put everything inside. “Merlin, you take forever,” Draco said as we exited the common room and followed a group of older Slytherins to the Great Hall.

“At least I don’t spend most of the morning worrying about my hair,” I snarked back.

“Maybe you should start spending time on your hair,” he said back, a hint of a smile playing across his lips.

In the morning the ceiling of the Great Hall was a bright blue with clouds moving above. It was just as beautiful as the night sky and lit up the Great Hall.

Just as we sat down at the table and began eating, the mail arrived. I spotted my family owl instantly as he made his way towards me. He dropped the letter on my bacon, making me scowl at him a bit.

_Dear Harry,_

_I hope you had fun on the train ride and made some friends. I met Sirius and Remus in first year on our way to Hogwarts, it obviously worked out for us._

_Did you make Gryffindor? I know it’s a silly question, but let me know. Although I kind of expect you to be Hufflepuff, you’re a hard working kid. Owl me when you can!_

_Love, Dad_

I bit my lip at the last paragraph, but quickly got a piece of paper out of my bag and began writing back as Bami, my family owl, nibbled on some bacon from my plate.

_Dear Dad and Mum,_

_I’ve already made a few friends and they seem nice so far. I hope you’ll get to meet them some time. They like to act a bit mean, but it’s pretty obvious they just act like that for show._

_I didn’t make Gryffindor, I was surprised too. The hat didn’t let me really put any input in, it just decided after analyzing my personality. I suppose that’s its job though._

_I’m in Slytherin house. I hope you don’t mind too much, the other students seem nice and our head of house is a guy named Snape. He seems a bit mean at first, but he was really nice and welcoming to us first years. I’m eating breakfast right now, I’ll owl you about my first week this weekend._

_Tell Sirius and Remus about my letter too._

_Love, Harry_

I waited a few minutes for the ink to dry before handing it to Bami, who flew off instantly after I gave him a quick pet.

“My mum already wrote an entire essay for me, bloody hell,” Draco said and I peaked over to see his letter. It was nearly 6 times longer than mine, making me laugh a bit at him. “She’s insane sometimes, but I love her,” he said as he tucked the letter in his bag.

Snape had begun handing out the schedules and he had just reached our part of the table. “Mister Zabini,” he said, holding out the piece of paper for the boy to grab. When he arrived at me he gave me an interesting look before saying, “Mister Potter” and handing me my schedule.

“Thank you, Professor,” I responded, taking it from his hands. He hummed in response before continuing onto Daphne Greengrass.

We had Herbology with the Ravenclaws first period, which was all the way out in the greenhouses. “We should hurry up,” I said as I began working on finishing my food.

All of us first year Slytherins stuck together in a group as we made our way outside and to the greenhouses. I felt oddly comfortable and assured that we’d make it to our classes okay as long as we stuck together.

“My mum is already talking about some guy she met in Italy. I won’t be able to handle it if she decides to marry another guy,” Blaise complained, talking about the letter his mum had sent that morning.

“My dad was asking me if I made Gryffindor, I don’t know how he’s gonna take me ending up in Slytherin,” I confessed. I received a few looks of pity and Draco patted me on my shoulder.

“I can only imagine how my dad would react if I ended up in Gryffindor. He’d probably pull me out of the school,” Draco said as we entered the greenhouses, greeting Professor Sprout.

I quickly forgot about my worries, staring at an exotic looking flower instead. It was a vibrant orange red and it occasionally twitches. I made sure to stay away from it, sticking close to Draco’s side instead.

Herbology seemed to be more about lectures, but apparently in our second year we would really get to start working with the plants. Herbology was important though, especially since how it tied into potions.

“What do we have next?” Draco asked me, looking at my schedule from over my shoulder. “Charms it is,” he said and grabbed my arm, dragging me along to our next class.

Three days later on Thursday, the day we also had our first flying lesson, I got a response from my parents. Bami appeared, dropping the letter in my food once again.

My hands were shaking a bit as I picked it up, a lump forming in my throat from the anxiety I felt. I tore it open, my eyes quickly scanning over the letter.

_Dear Harry,_

_I must admit, I’m a bit surprised that you ended up in Slytherin. As long as you’re okay in that house and have some friends, I’ve got no issue with it._

_I went to school with Snape, we were in the same year. He used to be friends with your mother I believe, but they had a bit of a falling out around fifth or fourth year. Him and I didn’t get along that well, I hope he doesn’t hold any of my mistakes against you._

_I told Sirius and Remus, they wanted me to tell you that they love you just the same. Also, I would love to eventually meet your friends, maybe over summer break they could visit. Tell me about how your week has been so far, your mother sends her love._

_Love, Dad_

Relief flooded through me and I allowed my head to fall on the table.

“That was very un-Slytherin of you,” Draco said, grabbing the letter from underneath my head. “That’s good, my dad would react the exact opposite compared to your dad. Oh, it’d be cool to come over to your place over the summer. You play Quidditch?” Draco asked me as he folded the letter again and put it on my head.

I snatched it off of my head and nodded. “I pretty much play Quidditch all summer, my dad’s a really good chaser. I’m pretty sure he won some award, it’s in the trophy room,” I told Draco.

His eyes widened and a look of excitement appeared on his face. “My mum says I’m a pretty good chaser, I wanna go against your dad,” he said, a smirk appearing on his face.

“Let’s see how you fly in class today then. Oh, did I tell you I got a Nimbus 2000 over the summer?” I asked him as we made our way to our first class, which was D.A.D.A with Gryffindor.

“Really? Lucky prat,” Draco said as he playfully shoved me.

We had flying lessons with the Gryffindors, which I didn’t mind too much as I knew Neville pretty well because we hung out a bit over the summers. My mum had known his, so naturally Neville came over often over the summers.

There were a bunch of brooms laying on the mini pitch, two rows facing each other. Slytherin chose the left and the Gryffindors stood across from us.

“Stand in front of a broom and hold out your hand and say ‘UP’. You gotta be demanding with it,” Madame Hooch said, walking behind all of us and observing.

It listened to me instantly, Draco quickly following me. I laughed a bit when the broom wacked Weasley in the face, making him fall to the ground.

“Granger is finally struggling with something,” Draco said and I turned to look at the bush haired girl. Her broom wasn’t moving whatsoever. She seemed to be getting upset with it pretty quickly.

I was honestly relieved she couldn’t learn this from some textbook, maybe because it showed her that books can’t help with anything and sometimes you have to think outside of the box.

My mum is just that, she thinks in creative ways to come up with new potions, even if it takes months to even get close to a product that may work. She’s been working on the eyesight potion for nearly a year, but she hasn’t given up yet. I was confident she’d be the first to create a permanent eyesight potion.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Madame Hooch told us to mount our brooms and grip it tight. I followed her instructions right away, feeling a bit awkward as I wasn’t used to the position she told us to use.

Suddenly Neville Longbottom’s broom began lifting in the air, he had very clearly lost control. I watched him, worried about how shaky he seemed as it kept on going higher. Madame Hooch was calling for him, trying to tell him how to land.

I closed my eyes tightly as I watched him slip, hearing a few girls scream a bit. Hooch rushed over to him and he seemed to be on the verge of crying, his wrist was clearly broken.

“Everyone stay here and do not even think of touching your brooms. If your feet leave the ground, you’ll have detention before you can even say Quidditch!” She warned us as she walked off with Neville, taking him to the infirmary.

“Look what the prat dropped,” an irish lad from Gryffindor said, picking up what appeared to be a remembrall from the area where Neville had fallen. “Seems pretty useful,” he said and began pocketing it.

“Give it to me,” I said, holding out my hand. I ignored the small tug on my robes from Draco, staring down the boy.

“Why would I give it to a slimy Slytherin like you? Just because you’re Harry Potter it doesn’t give you an excuse,” the boy said, staring me down.

“Stand down, Seamus,” Ron Weasley said, giving me the other boy’s name.

“Give me it now, I’ll give it to him later when I see him,” I said once again, taking a step towards him.

He raised an eyebrow, hopping on his broom instead. “Come and get it, snake,” he taunted, waving it around in the year.

Despite Draco’s protests, I got onto the old school broom and flew up to where Seamus was. I charged at him and he flew out of the way, looking a bit more nervous now. He chucked the glass ball and I flew after it instantly, my eyes locked on it.

I took a sharp dive, about a foot away from the ground when my hand grasped onto the ball. I pulled up just in time, then landed about a meter away from the crowd of students.

“Bloody hell, I didn’t know you were that good,” Draco said as he walked up to me, whispering it in my ear so others couldn’t hear. A smile appeared on my face, but it fell when I saw the person approaching us with a blank expression.

Professor Snape was walking towards us. “Mister Potter, follow me,” he said sternly and I felt the colour leave my face as he turned around and began watching.

I tucked the ball in my pocket and quickly scurried after him. I was silent as he led me through the halls, arriving in front of the Ancient Runes classroom. “Miss Babbling, may I see Mister Flint?” Snape asked, peeking his head in the door.

A few seconds later a very large fifth year exited the room, who I recognized from the common room. He was the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team and was known for his feud with Oliver Wood.

“I believe I have found Slytherin a seeker, he is much better than Higgs. Show Flint what you caught,” Snape ordered and I pulled out the ball, unable to comprehend what I was hearing.

“He caught that a meter away from the ground after diving from about 20 meters in the air,” Snape told him and Flint turned to look at me as though I was the best thing to have ever happened to him.

“We gotta start training him as soon as possible. Quidditch practice is three days a week right at 4 in the afternoon. Your first practice will be Saturday, don’t be late,” Flint told me before leaving us alone in the hallway.

“I do not expect to see you breaking any rules again. I will not be as kind as I was this time. Good job standing up for the Longbottom boy, five points to Slytherin. I will see you in my office on Saturday after dinner for our personal meeting,” Snape told me, his piercing black eyes staring me down.

I watched as his robes billowed around him as he walked away. I was certain that he had to have cast some spell on his robes for them to be able to do that.

Unsurprisingly by lunchtime the entire school had heard that I was the youngest Hogwarts seeker in history.

I sent my father a letter that night, telling him about everything that had happened and that he’d need to send all of my Quidditch things to school so I could play for Slytherin.


	4. Harry Potter and the Three Headed Dog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This also a chapter I enjoyed writing, especially the potions part.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

It was lunch time when I got my mail, this time Hedwig was carrying it instead of Bami. There were quite the amount packages along with a copy of the daily prophet and a letter from Sirius and Remus.

“Merlin, Harry. How much Quidditch stuff do you got?” Blaise asked, breaking his usual cool and calm demeanor.

I simply shrugged in response, opening the letter first as I had been waiting all week for a letter from my Godfather and Remus, whom I considered to be my Uncles in a way. There were two different letters from them in the envelope.

_Dear Harry,_

_Blimey, wasn’t expecting to hear you made Slytherin. My younger brother was in Slytherin, along with all of my cousins and my parents. When I was sorted into Gryffindor I was seen as the black sheep in the family._

_Are you enjoying Slytherin? I remember my little brother used to enjoy it. There was a sense of importance that came with being in the house he always told me._

_Slytherins rarely showed emotion while I was at school, they tended to be very quiet and guarded against others. I hope you manage to make friends in other houses despite that._

_Tell me a bit about Slytherin when you can, I’m curious as to how it’s changed since I went there._

_Love, Sirius_

_Dear Harry,_

_I heard about your sorting and I couldn’t be more happy. Your parents told me you’re already making friends, I wouldn’t mind it if you told me about them._

_I hope Slytherin treats you well, I’m sure you’ll have a few interesting years at Hogwarts. Surprisingly, I’m not that surprised you ended up in Slytherin. You’ve always been ambitious, desperately wanting to prove yourself._

_I want you to know just how proud I am of you. There may be many students in your house whose parents may not be the best people, but don’t ever let that dictate who you befriend._

_Enjoy your time at Hogwarts and don’t be afraid to owl me anytime you have a question. I’ll see you at Christmas time._

_Love, Remus_

P.S – congratulations on making the Quidditch team. Sirius says he’s proud of you as well. We’ll be there at your first match.

A bright smile appeared on my face and I tucked both of the letters in my back along with the envelope. “Can I see it?” Draco asked me, his eyes locked on my broom that was currently in the case.

“Let’s bring my things to our room. We have potions next anyways, it’s down in the dungeons too,” I suggested and stood up to grab all of my things. All of the 1st year Slytherin boys, plus Millicent, followed me down into dungeons so they could check out my things.

“It’s beautiful,” Draco said in awe. He gently stroked the handle, looking at it as if it was made of pure gold. The rest of the students were too, so I grabbed my copy of the Daily Prophet and decided to read it.

My eyebrows went up, there was a break in at Gringotts on my birthday, but apparently the vault had been emptied the day before. I remember seeing Hagrid at Gringotts, but I didn’t really pay attention to anyone else.

“Come on, we gotta get to Potions,” Blaise said, making me put the newspaper down.

I was excited for my first ever potions class, as most other Slytherins were after hearing about Snape’s potion skills from the upper years.

The Gryffindors sat on the right side and the Slytherins sat together on the other side of the room, most of the students were glaring at the other side of the room. I was not free from receiving death glares from the Gryffindors, especially after the incident with Seamus.

Most of them grew up hearing about me, most likely told I’d be sorted into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Instead I was sorted into Slytherin, the ‘evil’ house where Death Eaters and Voldemort came from.

Seamus sent the finger my way and I simply rolled my eyes in response.

“10 points from Gryffindor for making inappropriate gestures in class,” Professor Snape said, appearing out of nowhere. Seamus blushed a bit, looking down at his book.

“I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death. There will be no foolish wand waving in this class, so you can put them away and in your pockets or holster,” Snape drawled, eyeing down every student with an intense gaze.

“I will start with attendance, say here when I call your name,” Snape said, grabbing a piece of paper off of his desk. “Harry Potter,” he said and I replied with a small ‘here’.

“Tell me Mister Potter, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?” Snape asked me, making me look at him in surprise.

I racked my brain before finally saying, “T-The Draught of Living Death?” I said, but it came out as more of a question.

“You would be correct Mister Potter. Mister Weasley, what is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?” He turned to the ginger boy, who seemed to be at loss of words. “They are the same thing, also known as aconite. Try to open a book before coming to my class,” Snape said and Ron turned a bright red and bowed his head.

“Today I will be teaching you how to create a cure for boils. Grab out a piece of parchment and a quill so you can begin writing these instructions down. Do not strictly follow your textbook, I will be teaching you quicker and easier ways to prepare certain ingredients,” Snape told all of us, adding the last part when a student went to grab their book.

“The only time you will need your books is for your homework and assignments. You can put your books away in your bag if you feel as though it may be distracting,” Snape told us before starting the lesson.

I attempted to write as neatly as possible, noticing how neat Draco’s handwriting looked as he sat next to me. Once he was done writing all of the ingredients on the board and explaining the steps as to how to brew the potion, he sent us all on our way.

I placed my cauldron on the small fire, looking down at my notes and grabbing my mortar and the snake fangs. I crushed them down before counting out 4 measures and putting it into my cauldron.

I allowed it to heat a few minutes before adding in 4 horned slugs, followed by 2 porcupine quills. When Snape walked by my potion, he observed it for a moment before nodding and continuing to check the other students’ potions.

I finished stirring it and quickly waved my wand over it, completing the potion. Draco finished his potion right after mine and we both remained silent as we waited for our potions to cool.

“Once you are done you may put your potion in a phial and bring it up to my desk for me to label with your name. You will be graded on this potion so I expect you to do the best of your abilities,” Snape said and I grabbed a phial from my potions kit and carefully poured some of my potion into the small phial.

I put the cork on and made my way to his desk, handing him the phial with the pink potion inside. “Very good, Mister Potter. Begin reading chapter 2 of your potions book and begin writing your 12 inch essay on how the ingredients interact with each other and how you get the final result of this potion,” Snape instructed me and I nodded, heading back towards my table to get started.

Draco gave me a highfive underneath the table, out of Snape’s sight.

My first Quidditch practice involved attempting to avoid bludgers and find the snitch while Draco, Blaise, and Millicent cheered at me from the stands with bright smiles on their faces.

I walked back to the locker rooms covered in sweat and dirt, but I was smiling from the adrenaline flowing through my veins from being on the broom.

“We won’t have any issues with winning the Cup this year with Potter here on our team, “ Adrian Pucey said as he clapped me on the back with a grin on his face.

“You better keep that up out on the field when our match against Gryffindor comes,” Flint said sternly, but there was a smile on his face. “You’re bloody brilliant out there, we won’t even have to cheat to win,” he said as he also patted me on the back.

“Go clean up before dinner, you’re filthy,” Flint ordered and I nodded, scurrying off to meet up with my friends that had been in the stands.

“Merlin, you’re amazing out on the field!” Millicent said as she threw her arm over my shoulder, Draco taking the other shoulder as his resting spot.

“He’s filthy, I can’t believe you two are touching him,” Blaise said with a roll of his eyes, his eyes widening when I charged after him.

“Scourgify!” Blaise yelled, pointing his wand at me before I could touch him.

“Well, I don’t think I need that shower anymore,” I said with a shrug as all of the filth disappeared from me. “I still gotta get dressed before dinner, wanna come with me to the dorm?” I asked Draco. He nodded without hesitation.

“Of course Potter, we can’t have our savior walking around by himself,” Draco said with a smirk on his face and I rolled my eyes.

I opened up my trunk as soon as we entered the dorm and Draco peered over my shoulder as I did so. “Curious much?” I asked with a raised eyebrow and he merely blushed in response.

I spotted my invisibility cloak, an idea coming to my mind. “Hey Draco, wanna pull a prank on the Gryffindors later tonight?” I asked him with a mischievous grin on my face. I wasn’t the son of a Marauder for nothing.

“As long as we don’t get caught, I’m down. The lot of them are all prats to us,” Draco said, a smirk appearing on his face.

“My godfather gave me a book on spells for your enemies, it had a lot of cool pranks in it,” I told him as I pulled out my book, showing him it. “My father also gave me his invisibility cloak, it’s a Potter family heirloom,” I told him and his eyes lit up.

“Can I see it?” He asked me and I nodded, rushing to grab it from my trunk.

I wrapped it around my head and Draco let out a laugh, staring at my headless body. “That’s brilliant,” he said and hesitantly reached out to touch it and I let him.

“When dinner is done we should start working on a few of those spells,” Draco said, a grin appearing on his face as our eyes connected. I felt more than excited, grinning back at Draco.

School was flying by fast and Draco and I had yet to go through with our plan. We had used one of the spare potion classrooms with Snape’s permission and brewed a potion that when consumed, would cause a person to be very itchy until they consumed the remedy.

I managed to get the location of the kitchens from my father, sending him a very vague letter as to not give out any clues as to what Draco and I were planning.

It was at exactly four am on October 2nd when Draco and I decided to sneak out of the dormitories. The kitchen was located on the floor above the dungeons, right beneath the Great Hall and close to the Hufflepuff entrance.

“We need to find a picture of a bowl of fruit and then tickle the pear,” I whispered to Draco. He looked at me as though I had grown two heads. “It’s true, my dad told me,” I whispered harshly.

I found the painting with the help of Draco, reaching my hand out of the cloak to tickle the pear. It squirmed a bit and let out a laugh before swinging open. Inside were a bunch of house elves, along with four tables that resembled where they were in the Great Hall.

Most of the food was on the table already, under a heating charm to keep them warm. The house elves didn’t see us underneath the cloak, or they just decided to ignore us.

We crept towards the table and Draco pulled out the potion, sticking his arm out to pour a bit of it on two things from each section of the table. Once the bottle was empty he whispered ‘Depulso’, a banishing charm he learned just for this prank.

Once we got out of the kitchens we both let out excited sounds, hugging each other and making the cloak fall off of us. There was a meow down the hallway and I spotted Mrs Norris, Filch the caretaker’s cat.

She ran off, most likely to get Filch and I rushed to put the cloak on us. We ran through the halls, going up multiple staircases, attempting to get away as we heard Filch curse, running after us.

“Little suckers, think they can get away from me this time,” we heard Filch say as we continued to run.

I grabbed Draco and led him down an empty looking hall with a door. I attempted to open it, but it was locked. “Alohomora,” I whispered and the door unlocked. We rushed in there, slamming the door shut, breathing heavily.

We waited a minute, hearing Filch rush by, not bothering to check this room.

A heard a soft whimper next to me and turned to look at Draco. I looked where he was staring and nearly let out a scream, there was a huge three headed dog standing in front of us.

It was growling lowly, most likely smelling us as it was unable to see us. We rushed out of the room just as it let out a bark. “Colloportus,” I said, locking the door and rushing back down the hall with Draco.

We only started breathing again when we were back in the common room. It was a quarter past five in the morning when we entered our dormitory. The other boys were still asleep and I myself was a bit exhausted.

“What the hell was that?” Draco asked me, his eyes wide as he sat next to me on my bed.

“I’ve got no idea, I’ll look it up in the library after Quidditch practice today,” I told him as I took off my glasses and set them on my nightstand.

“Did you see it was standing on a trapdoor? It’s protecting something, that’s why it’s the forbidden corridor,” Draco told me. My interest was piqued instantly. I hadn’t noticed what it was standing on as I was too busy staring at three heads.

“Let’s get some more sleep,” I told him and got ready to lay back down. I couldn’t help but think back to seeing Hagrid at Gringotts. It was quite the stretch, but I had a distinct feeling he knew something about what was in the corridor. He knew nearly everything that Dumbledore knew.

I fell asleep, going into a restless sleep. Oddly enough, my dreams were full of fluffy, Quirrell, and a weird voice coming from Quirrell’s violet turban that he always wore.

The next morning I completely forgot about my odd dreams, instead my attention was on whether or not our potion was going to work on the Gryffindors.

Draco and I attempted to act as normally as possible, following our normal morning routine and making sure to arrive in the Great Hall at the same time as we normally did. There weren’t many Gryffindors yet, but they’d be arriving in the next 15 minutes like they usually did.

“If this works, we need to make sure to prank each house at least once. Including ours,” Draco whispered in my ear, surprising me a bit. He seemed to be the type to avoid any trouble, mainly because he was worried about what his parents would do.

“Deal. One or two houses each year,” I told him and he nodded, a soft smile appearing on his face.

Exactly twenty minutes later it was utter chaos around the Gryffindor table. People were laughing hysterically, squirming, and some were even crying because they were laughing so hard.

Some even seemed angry as they were tickled all over their body.

I laughed a little, along with a decent amount of others from the other tables.

McGonagall was already at the table, attempting to use a counter-charm, thinking that it was a charm instead of a potion. She managed to get all of the Gryffindors that were under the influence of the potion out of the Great Hall.

An excited chatter broke out as soon as she was gone, students talking about what just happened.

“That was bloody brilliant,” Theo said with a grin, gathering up all of his things from the table and getting ready to go to our first class. “I bet 5 galleons that it’ll take them at least 4 hours to cure them,” he went on to say.

“I bet five galleons that they’ll be cured by lunch,” I said, knowing I had a good advantage in this situation as I knew how long the cure took to brew.

“I bet 5 galleons that they’ll be fixed within the hour,” Blaise piped in.

“I bet 6 galleons that they won’t be able fix the lot up until dinner time,” Pansy added in, making all of us look at her in disbelief.

“Give me 5 of your galleons if you’re right,” Draco whispered in my ear and I rolled my eyes, but I still nodded. “Everyone better pay up,” Draco said louder for everyone to hear as we all got up and headed to D.A.D.A.

I won the bet.

Half way through October on a Saturday Draco, Blaise, and I were all hanging out in the courtyard when we saw Hagrid walk by. He spotted us from a distance and smiled when he saw, walking on over to us.

“Harry! How ‘ave you been?” He asked me when he finally reached us.

“I’ve been doing good, Hagrid. How is Fang doing? You didn’t come over this summer,” I asked him, ignoring the weird faces that I got from my two from next to me.

“He’s doin’ just fine. He’s a bit lonely though. Why don’t you and yer friends come over for some tea after lunch?” He asked me, turning to look at the two silent Slytherins sitting next to me.

“I’d love to. I’ll see you later!” I said and waved goodbye at him and watched him walk away to wherever he’d been heading for.

“You know that oaf? My father told me he was a drunk that lived in a hut,” Draco said, his face scrunching up in distaste. Blaise remained silent, but it was obvious he agreed with the blond.

“Don’t talk about him like that. He’s my friend and a friend of my parents. In fact, he was the second person on the scene when V-Voldemort had attacked my family. He also managed to stop my Godfather from going after the man that betrayed my parents and get himself arrested. So, if you’re going to talk trash about him then don’t bother talking to me,” I told them, standing up and grabbing my bag.

“Wait, Harry. I-I’m sorry, please forgive me. I didn’t know about any of that. I was just going off what my father told me,” Draco begged, looking up at me with pleading eyes.

“I’ll forgive you, but don’t listen to everything your father says. Maybe try and make some opinions for yourself before you speak,” I finally said, offering a small smile after to let him know I forgave him.

He looked relieved after I spoke and returned my smile, albeit he looked a bit more shy.

“Wanna grab some lunch and then head down to his hut?” Blaise asked me and he stood up and grabbed his bag as well.

I nodded and led them towards the Great Hall.

When we all arrived at his hut, I knocked on the door and waited for him to open it. It swung open and revealed him wearing an apron and glove mittens.

“Come on in, don’ know what yer waiting out here for,” he said with a big smile and we all managed to cram inside the small hut.

He put a plate of his rock cakes in the center of the table and began pouring all of us a cup of tea. “How’s yer school year been so far? Not having any issues are ye?” He asked me, raising his eyebrow.

“None at all. I actually wanted to ask you something though,” I paused for a second and he ushered me on to ask it. “Do you know anything about a three headed dog?” I asked him and watched as his eyes widened to the size of my teacup.

“How do ya’ know about Fluffy?” He asked me as Blaise looked at me and said “Three headed dog?” With a confused facial expression.

“We accidentally went into the room when we were running from Filch. It was standing on a trapdoor, do you know what it’s protecting?” I asked him straight up, giggling a bit as he seemed at lost for words.

“What Fluffy is protecting is between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel, so it’d be best for you to stay out of it,” he stated as he pointed his finger at us and stared sternly.

“Who’s Nicholas Flamel?” I asked him and he let out a sigh, realizing he slipped up already.

“Is anyone going to fill me in on what’s going on?” Blaise asked, looking between Draco and I looking more confused than he’s ever been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanna thank everyone that is reading my book and supporting me.


	5. Harry Potter and His First Quidditch Match

We had potions for our first class on Halloween and Snape had decided today we were going to be creating the Pompion potion in honor of the holiday. If made correctly the potion would temporarily turn someone’s head into a pumpkin.

“You wanna get the ingredients?” I asked Draco as we partnered up and he nodded. As he went to grab the ingredients from the cupboard I started heating up the cauldron.

“Mister Longbottom, that is not a Flitterby moth, that is a regular one. You’re lucky I caught that foolish mistake or you’d be brewing an antidote for common poisons after you consumed it,” Snape snapped at Neville, who looked down in shame and nodded, rushing to the cabinet to grab the correct moth.

“You get working on the bouncing bulb and I’ll work on the moth,” Draco told me and I grabbed my mortar in response. I grinded the bulb into a fine powder, watching Draco add the moth into the cauldron and stir it clockwise until it turned green.

He took the ground bouncing bulb from me and poured it into the cauldron, allowing me to stir this time. He began slicing the foxglove and I stopped stirring once the mixture turned a vibrant red color.

Draco added the sliced foxglove into the potion and continued stirring it clockwise until it turned orange, signaling that it was made correctly and ready to be put into phial.

“Good job Mister Malfoy and Potter, ten points to Slytherin each for managing to finish first,” Snape drawled after looking at our potion. He put it in the phial himself before bringing it back up to his desk.

“You two may begin your essay on how potion making impacts wizarding practices on Halloween. I expect it to be 12 inches long,” Snape told us and I got right to work.

As usual, Draco gave me a highfive underneath the table as he normally did after we managed to successfully brew a potion.

Charms was just as fun as Potions where we learned to charm paper bats to fly around the room. Draco managed to send his bat after Professor Flitwick and he claimed it was an accident (keyword: claimed).

We got most of our afternoon classes off as the adults decorated the Great Hall for the Halloween feast later tonight. We were also expected to wear our formal wear, which meant we had to wear those dreadful looking hats.

All of the students could agree as a whole that the hats we had to buy for Hogwarts were outright atrocious, they didn’t even have a brim like the adult hats. They were cone shaped and uncomfortable to wear.

I considered not wearing the hat, but Draco managed to convince me to by reminding me that Snape would most likely be a bit upset with me for ‘ruining Slytherin’s image’.

I still couldn’t understand what exactly Slytherin’s image was meant to be. Emotionless? Perfect students that always turned in their work? No one thought of us that way, in fact they thought we were a bunch of angry prats that went around performing the unforgivable curses on people we didn’t like.

The Great Hall looked beautiful when we entered, the bats we charmed during Charms were flying above us and there were carved pumpkins all around the room with a candle lit inside of them. The pumpkins were carved intricately, most likely with the help of magic.

Everyone seemed to be in great spirits as we took our seats at our respective tables with bright smiles. Even the Slytherins were smiling and laughing with each other. A few tables over Seamus Finnigan managed to blow up his goblet after attempting to turn his pumpkin juice into wine.

“You know that girl named Granger? She’s been crying in the girls bathroom all day. I couldn’t even go to the bathroom in some peace and quiet. She’s like Moaning Myrtle all over again,” Pansy complained to us as she arrived at the feast a bit late.

“You know why she’s crying?” I asked her, my interest being piqued.

“Weasley made fun of her for trying to correct him. Serves her right though, a muggle born shouldn’t be correcting a pure blood, even if it’s a blood traitor like Weasley,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

The table went silent as I glared at her and she realized she must’ve done something wrong. “My mother is a muggle born,” was all I needed to say for her to look down, embarrassed.

“Never talk badly about muggle borns in front of me, or even in general. As long as they learn to adapt to our culture there is nothing wrong with them learning magic. They were born that way and they have a right to learn magic,” I told them all, staring down every Slytherin because I knew that most of them were prejudiced in some way towards muggle borns.

The conversation was a bit strained at the table until Crabbe managed to fall asleep in his pudding and Blaise cast the Bat-Bogey hex to wake him up.

Everyone at our table laughed as his head shot up and he grabbed his nose. He had pudding all over the left side of his face and even some on the collar of his shirt.

Suddenly everyone went silent as Quirrell rushed into the Great Hall, screaming at the top of his lungs. “There’s a troll! There’s a troll in the dungeons. I thought you ought to know,” he said before collapsing onto the floor.

Screams broke out across the hall and I had to cover my ears with my hands because it was so loud it physically hurt to hear it.

“SILENCE!” Dumbledore yelled, obviously using a voice amplifying charm on his voice so everyone could hear him. The room went completely silent.

“Prefects, take the students back to their common rooms and I want the Headboy and girls to begin searching the area around the dungeons,” Dumbledore told all of us and left the room.

The Slytherin common room was in the dungeons, where the troll was apparently. “Everyone lets stay in the Great Hall as we cannot go into the dungeons right now,” Gemma Farley told us all and we all stayed in our seats.

That’s when I remembered Granger was in the girls bathroom and went up to McGonagall who was about to leave to tell her. “Miss, Hermione Granger is in the girls bathroom and doesn’t know about the troll,” I told her.

Her eyes widened and she nodded. “Thank you for telling me Mister Potter, five points to Slytherin,” she said before rushing out of the Great Hall.

I turned back and headed to my seat, but on the way back I noticed Quirrell was no longer passed out on the floor. In fact, I didn’t see him for the rest of the night, even after we were sent back to our common rooms.

We were finishing up the feast in the common room when Snape walked in, a slight limp in his step as he scanned the room. “Everyone is safe and okay, correct Miss Farley?” He asked Gemma who nodded, handing him the list of showing all the students were present.

“Very well, finish up your food and head to bed. This has been an interesting Halloween,” Snape told all of us and I focused on his leg, there was a pretty bad cut on it, but I didn’t see it long enough because he covered it up with his cloak.

“Hey Draco, wanna go out with my invisibility cloak?” I whispered in his ear and he nodded instantly, following me upstairs.

No one seemed to notice the door open as I led Draco out of the common room underneath my cloak. “Where are we going?” Draco hissed at me as we walked up stairs after stairs.

Once we were on the third floor he seemed to realize where we were going. I stopped in front of the door, noticing how it smelled strongly of garlic, just like Quirrell smelled. I spotted a few droplets of blood on the floor and quickly cast “scourgify” much to Draco’s confusion.

“Notice how it smells like Quirrell? He wasn’t with the teachers when they left to find the troll,’ I whispered to Draco and his eyes widened. “We need to find out who Nicholas Flamel is so we can figure out what the blasted dog is guarding,” I told him and he seemed to agree with me.

November 9th signaled the first Quidditch match of the season after nearly two months to practice. It was Gryffindor vs Slytherin, as it was every year apparently.

My parents, Sirius, and Remus would be sitting in the Commentary box with the rest of the teachers and the Commentator, a Gryffindor named Lee Jordan.

To say I was nervous was an understatement as I stared at my plate, my food was still untouched. “Eat, you prat. You need your energy for the game. We can’t have you passing out during the middle of the bloody match and making us lose,” Draco ordered me as he held a piece of bread to my lips.

I slowly began eating my food under the watchful eye of Flint and Draco, both seemed to be a bit crazy when it came to the sport.

The match was set to start right after lunch and both Gryffindor and Slytherin were decked out in their house colors and the other two houses were a mixture of red and green. Ravenclaw seemed to have more Slytherin supporters, whereas Hufflepuff had a lot more red at their table.

“Let’s go,” Flint said as he stood and the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team stood up. Oliver Wood, the captain of Gryffindor, was also getting up to get ready to go out on the field.

“Don’t be so nervous, Potter. I lasted thirty minutes before I was hit in the jaw with a bludger,” Flint said, squeezing my shoulder as he attempted to comfort me. It did the exact opposite, but I appreciated the thought.

“And here is the Slytherin team! Captain and chaser Marcus Flint, Adrian Pucey a chaser, Gemma Farley a very good looking chaser, Lucian Bole the beater, and Peregrine Derrick another beater. Finally we have the keeper Miles Bletchley and the youngest seeker in the last century of Hogwarts, Harry Potter!” Lee Jordan said into his wand. He was surprisingly unbiased with the introductions, but I had a feeling that would change during the actual match.

We flew out onto the Quidditch pitch as each of us were called out and my eyes scanned the commentary box, catching sight of my mother’s red hair and my dad sitting next to her, with Remus and Sirius to his right.

I looked at where the Slytherins were sitting, easily spotting Draco with his platinum blond hair. I smiled at him, hoping he saw it before focusing on Madam Hooch.

“Now I want a fair game all of you, no cheating,” she said, her hawk-eye like eyes staring down the Slytherins specifically.

“We won’t need to cheat with Potter,” Flint said, a cocky grin appearing on his face and I flushed at the look she gave me.

She released the snitch and made both of the seekers wait thirty seconds before flying off. The match was started and the quaffle was being tossed between the Gryffindor chasers before it was intercepted by Flint.

I changed my focus and began searching for the snitch, going a bit higher up than the rest of the other players so I would have a better view of the entire pitch. Alicia Spinnet was the other seeker, she was originally the substitute chaser but she had switched positions this year.

I flew across the pitch, flying over my parents and catching them smiling at me as I flew overhead. My eyes scanned the pitch, landing on the scoreboard to see we were winning 40-20 so far.

I didn’t want to win too early so we could get as many points as we could, increasing our chances at getting the Quidditch cup at the end of the year.

The game continued on and I was beginning to get a bit restless as there was no sign of the snitch. Suddenly I saw a flash of gold by the commentary box and began speeding towards it, Alicia Spinnet following me.

My broom jerked a bit suddenly, but at that moment my Godfather stood up out of excitement, screaming my name and accidentally whacking Quirrell in the face.

My broom returned to normal instantly and I was still a few feet ahead of Alicia as I chased after the snitch. The commentator was going crazy as we were now head to head. I began diving and halfway down Alicia pulled up, too scared to attempt to pull up in time.

I succeeded in pulling up just in time and slowly began to stand on the edge of my broom, hearing gasps as I leaned forward to grab the snitch.

I fell off of my broom only two feet off the ground, landing on my back as something hit the back of my throat. I stood up immediately, feeling as though I was about to throw something up. I spit out the snitch into my hand and the stadium went nuts.

“Harry Potter has caught the snitch! Slytherin wins,” Lee Jordan yelled into his wand over the cheers as my team flew down to see me.

I was lifted up onto Pucey and Flint’s shoulders as they cheered, the rest of Slytherin house cheering as they rushed down onto the pitch. I was smiling so hard my face hurt as I was put back down on the ground, still clutching the snitch in my hand.

All I saw was a blur of platinum blond hair before I was being engulfed in the tightest hug ever. I smiled into Draco’s shoulder, spotting my parents from behind his shoulder. “That was brilliant, Harry! You were amazing,” Draco exclaimed, seeming to be a bit breathless from running towards me.

“That was one hell of a show, Harry,” Sirius said as he walked towards me, my parents and Remus next to him as they walked up to us.

Draco let me go with a slight blush at being caught hugging in public, making me roll my eyes and put my arm across his shoulder.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Potter,” Draco said as he bowed to my parents.

I let out a laugh, pulling him up as soon as he bowed down. “You don’t need to do that Draco. Mum and Dad this Draco Malfoy and this is Blaise Zabini,” I said as the other boy made his way towards me. “That’s Sirius Black my godfather and Remus Lupin,” I told the boys who both continued to bow after greeting them.

“No need to bow Draco, we’re family after all. You’re mum is my cousin. How is Cissy doing? I haven’t spoken to her in years?” Sirius asked him as I went up to give both of my parents a tight hug.

“She’s doing well, although she’s been spending an awful amount of time at the bathhouse apparently because I’m no longer at home,” Draco told him as politely as possible, his posture in perfect condition.

“Hurry up, Potter. We’re having a party in the common room. We can’t begin it until the seeker is there,” Flint said as he clapped me on the back, a toothy grin on his face.

“Go on, kiddo. We’ll get to see you when the holiday break starts,” my mum said and waved me off.

I was lifted onto Flint and Pucey’s shoulders again as I was carried back to the Slytherin common room, the entire house following us. Weird Sisters was being blasted from one of the radios within five minutes of being in there.

The upper years had clearly managed to get a hold of some alcohol, but they all seemed to hold it well and not act out too much like I thought they would.

I was on the dance floor with Blaise, both of us jumping up and down as Draco sat on a couch nearby. He claimed he was too embarrassed to dance in front of so many people, but I was sure that it was actually because he was already tired.

As the party began to die down a bit, Snape entered the common room and no one paid attention to him. I noticed he was heading towards me so I began walking in his direction. “Mister Potter, I need to speak with you out in the hall,” he said and turned around swiftly.

As soon as we were out in the hall he was talking. “You need to be wary of Professor Quirrell. I don’t wish to scare you, but he was attempting to jinx your broom during the match. If it weren’t for your godfather acting so childish and punching him, you most likely would’ve fallen. I will be bringing this to the attention of the Headmaster, but I wanted to notify you first,” he told me and I felt coldness sweep through me.

If I’d fallen from the height I was at I could’ve possibly died. “Thank you, sir,” I managed to choke out and turned back to the wall and muttered the password.

“What did he want?” Draco asked me, his eyebrows furrowing when he saw my facial expressions.

“Quirrell attempted to jinx my broom,” I whispered to Blaise and Draco.

If looks could kill, everyone in a ten foot radius of Draco would’ve dropped dead.


	6. Harry Potter and Christmas at the Burrow

It was our last day at Hogwarts before Christmas break and Blaise, Draco, and I had still found nothing on Nicholas Flamel despite spending most of our weekends in the library after my Quidditch practice.

I even tried to speak to Hagrid again, giving him his Christmas gift while trying to get out the information. I even considered getting him drunk so he would talk, but then I stopped because I realized how much that thought had sounded like Draco.

When I brought it up to Draco, he seemed to think getting Hagrid drunk was a marvelous idea.

“It’s going to be miserable without you for two whole weeks,” Draco groaned as he lay on his bed. He was staring at the ceiling of our dorm, his usually slicked back hair had no product in it and his blond curls were showing.

“Aw, don’t try and miss me too much, Malfoy,” I teased him and laughed when he blushed a bit, throwing one of his books at me.

“Shut it, Potter,” he said as he began finishing up packing his things. “You better write to me and tell me all about the gifts you get,” he ordered me, staring me down.

“You really think I wouldn’t? Of course I’ll be telling you everything,” I told him as I playfully shoved him. I began getting my winter cloak on and dragon hide boots. I was in the process of putting on my gloves when Blaise peaked his head in.

“Hurry up, lovebirds,” Blaise said and rushed out of the room when I yelled “bugger off!”.

Draco, Blaise, and I all managed to find a seat on the train together, shortly joined by Millicent, Daphne Greengrass, and Pansy. The compartment was a bit more packed than others, but we had fun.

We played a game of exploding snap while sucking on sugar quills, laughing like crazy and talking about plans we had over break. Blaise was going to Italy for the two weeks, Draco was staying at the Manor because his father was hosting a Christmas gala, and the three girls also had to go to the Christmas gala at Malfoy manor.

It felt like the train ride was too short as we pulled into Kings Cross station. I gave Draco one last hug, even giving Blaise a side hug before running off to my parents with Hedwig and my trunk dragging behind me.

“I’ve never seen Slytherins hug before,” my dad said with a slight laugh before grabbing my arm and apparating us home.

“Go put your things in your room, honey. Keep your cloak and gloves on, we’re going to Diagon Alley so we can get your friends some gifts for Christmas,” Mum told me, waving me to go upstairs.

I put my trunk at the foot of my bed and placed Hedwig on my dresser before letting her out. Go and take a fly, girl. I’m sure you hated the train ride,” I told her, gently petting her cheek as she leaned into my hand and hooted softly. 

I ran back down the stairs, nearly colliding with my dad. “Easy there, kiddo,” he said with a laugh as I blushed a bit. “Come on, we’re going to use the floo this time,” he said and dragged me into the living room.

My mum was already standing in front of the fireplace, the jar of floo powder in her hands. “Come on, Harry,” she said and held it out for me to grab a handful.

“Diagon alley,” I stated clearly, being engulfed in green flames and sucked into a small tube. I landed in the correct fireplace, appearing in the Leaky Cauldron. I narrowly missed my dad landing on top of me as I got out of the fire.

“Tergeo,” I said, pointing my wand at myself so all of the dust would be removed from me.

“I could’ve done that, you know,” my mum said after she casted the same spell on herself.

“I know, but I’ve been wanting to practice some spells,” I told her, a sheepish grin appearing on my face.

We walked to the back of the Leaky Cauldron, my father tapping the bricks on the wall with his wand. An archway appeared as the stones all moved away, to reveal the bright and colorful street of Diagon Alley.

“I already have some money on me from your trust vault,” my mum told me, handing me the pouch of money that most definitely had a feather-light charm on it. We wandered down the street and I stopped at a jewelry vendor.

I noticed a pretty silver hair pin decorated with emeralds. It would look amazing on Pansy so I quickly bought it, handing it to my mum to tuck it away in her bag.

We headed into a miscellaneous wizarding equipment store, something I felt like would be perfect to find multiple gifts. “Who are you shopping for again?” My dad asked me as I scanned a few items that were on the pricier side.

“Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass, Millicent Bulstrode, and Pansy Parkinson,” I told him, not paying too much attention to him as I was very focused on finding something for my friends.

I let out a soft laugh as I spotted a charm bracelet, it had multiple different reptile charms on it, including a snake, dragon, alligator, and lizard with smaller charms in between colors blue, green, red, and yellow. It also had a few charms placed on it that prevents anyone but the person wearing the bracelet from taking it off. It also grew a bit hot to warn the wearer when they were in danger. At least I had found Draco a present.

I grabbed the bracelet without a second thought and went on to grab a cloak fastening for Blaise, which was in the shape of a phoenix with red eyes. I found a herbology book on venomous plants for Daphne, mainly buying it because I wanted to tease her about her last name.

Millicent was a bit different than the rest of the girls, she was a bit of a Quidditch fanatic so I stopped by Quality Quidditch supplies and ended up buying her a broom case specifically made for Slytherin students. I was tempted to buy myself one, but then I remembered that I already had a case in perfect condition.

We returned home and I felt satisfied with my purchases. My mum even taught me the spell to wrap my presents and I spent the rest of the night practicing the spell on the presents I had bought.

Christmas morning always had the same distinct feeling when your eyes first opened. It took me a moment to remember that it was Christmas and I shot up out of bed. I slipped on my slippers and stared out the window, the ground was covered in a thick layer of snow already.

My feet gently padded down the stairs and I entered the living room to see my parents, Sirius, and Remus already sitting on the couch with cups of coffee in their hands.

“Morning, darling,” my mum said, tucking her hair behind her ear as she smiled at me. “Come on over here, you got quite the amount of presents this year,” she ushered me over, pushing me to my knees in front of the tree.

I grabbed Draco’s present first, practically shaking with excitement. I ripped off the paper to reveal a box. When I opened it I pulled out a figurine made of marble with a snake wrapped around a lion. Sirius let out a snort when he saw it and I laughed with him, setting it back in it’s box as the lion roared.

Blaise had gotten me three bottles of Sleekeazy’s Hair potion along with a book on how to style hair. There was a small note as well, it said ‘I can’t stand that rats nest anymore’ making me laugh again.

My dad grabbed the note and rolled his eyes. “What is it with people insulting the Potter hair?” He said as Sirius snatched the note from his hand.

Pansy had bought me a locket that you could put a memory in, specifically a happy memory so whenever you were sad or lonely it would comfort you. Daphne had gone and bought me a Slytherin scarf, something that I had been meaning to buy for a while now. And Millicent bought me Quidditch Throughout the Ages and a pair of new Quidditch gloves.

I turned to my parents' gifts and grabbed the biggest one, I let out an embarrassing squeal as a snowy white kitten popped it’s head out of the box. It’s eyes were two different colors, one green and one blue. I gently picked it up, cradling it to my chest and began petting it.

“Is it a boy or a girl?” I asked, turning to both of my parents who were smiling at me.

“It’s a boy. He isn’t named yet so you can name him whatever you want. He’s a Turkish Angora, they’re pretty smart cats too. He’s mixed with a magical breed so he’ll live a bit longer than normal and be able to recognize you as his master,” my dad told me, looking a bit proud of himself as I cooed at the kitten in my arms.

The next few presents involved cat toys, a cat bed, and some food and treats for my new familiar. I was a bit confused when I opened up a box to find a light blue potion inside a small glass bottle.

My mum was looking at me expectantly, ushering me to drink it as she watched with wide eyes. I gulped it down, grimacing at the disgusting taste that it had. It smelled nice and looked pretty, but the taste was atrocious. There was clearly antimony in the potion, but I forgot all about it when I realized just how bad my vision was.

That’s when realization dawned on me.

I took off my glasses and looked around, I could see everything perfectly. I could see my mum’s face without glass over my eyes. I set my kitten down on the ground, throwing myself at my mum as I hugged her.

“I wanted you to be the first person to use the potion. I’m going to try and get it approved by the ministry and start selling it,” she told me as I pulled away.

“It’s amazing, mum. Now I can play Quidditch without worrying about them flying off my face,” I said excitedly, hugging her one last time.

I continued opening my presents. I received a cat collar from Remus and it came with instructions on how to put the name on the name tag. Along with that he got me more chocolate frogs and a book on advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts. “I hear you’ve been doing very well in that class, so I thought you could start studying ahead,” he explained and I thanked him.

I got more muggle band music from Sirius, most of them seeming to be rock punk bands. I recognized Nirvana, along with the Nirvana shirt he got me and a few pairs of ripped jeans varying in color.

“When you turn 13 I will be taking you to get your ears pierced,” Sirius said and gave me a wink. I let out a laugh when my mum threw a pillow at him, but honestly I didn’t think that sounded like a super bad idea.

I quite liked the grunge muggle look that had become more popular recently. Sirius also seemed to like it if his choice of outfits were anything to go by. He wore a leather jacket, muggle band t-shirt, and ripped black jeans.The only way you could tell he was a wizard was the ring on his finger, the Lord of the Black family had to wear it.

“Why not my nose?” I suggested to Sirius, letting out a maniacal laugh when my mum threw the pillow at me instead.

“What are we doing for Christmas?” I asked my parents, resting on the other couch between Remus and Sirius.

“We were actually invited to the Weasleys this year. You’ve met Mr. and Mrs. Weasley before and I know all of their kids besides Ginny have gone to Hogwarts,” my mum told me and I let out a groan.

“What’s wrong with the Weasleys?” Remus asked, one of his eyebrows raised.

“Ron and I didn’t get off to a good start in the beginning of the school year. He and Draco absolutely hate each other and he’s also friends with Seamus Finnigan. Seamus is an absolute prat by the way,” I told them, feeling my mood sour just a little bit at the thought of the irish boy.

“Well you better learn to get over it. I’m sure you’ll get along with Fred and George, they’re in their third year,” my dad assured me as he handed me a plate of biscuits.

Of course I knew who the Weasley twins were, they were always pulling pranks and inventing all sorts of things that had you rolling on the floor in laughter. The only bad thing was that they loved to prank the Slytherins, especially firsties.

I hung out the rest of the morning with my new kitten, finally deciding on calling him Felix.

“Can I take him to the Weasleys?” I asked my mum as I walked downstairs, all dressed up for the Weasleys. I even followed Blaise’s advice and did my hair. It still looked a bit messy, but it looked as though it was on purpose.

My mum stared at my hair for a second before nodding. “As long as you keep an eye on him, he’s only three months old,” she told me sternly and I nodded, smiling as I set him down on the couch.

I didn’t have to worry about him shedding his white fur on my black clothes yet thankfully, but when he started I could easily find a few spells and potions to help it.

As I waited for my parents to finish getting ready I sat at the table and began writing a letter to Draco, letting him know how Christmas was going so far.

_Dear Draco,_

_I hope you enjoy your present I got you. I thought the dragon would suit you well and I also found it fit you perfectly. You better be wearing it when you get on the train for Hogwarts or else I’ll use a Bat-Bogey hex on you._

_I loved the present you got me, Sirius found it hilarious and my dad also seemed to like it. My parents got me a kitten for Christmas! I named him Felix, he’s a Turkish Angora and apparently he’s mixed with a magical cat breed so he can become my familiar._

_You won’t believe it but I have to go to the Weasleys for Christmas since our parents seem to be friends. If you owl me back I’ll tell you all about my experience at the Weasleys. I really miss you and Blaise, but it’s also been nice getting to be with my parents again._

_I can’t wait for you to meet Felix, anyways we’re about to leave for the Weasleys now so bye. I’ll be waiting to hear about how your Christmas went along with the boring gala. Tell the others I say hi if they’re there._

_Sincerely,_

_Harry_

“Come on, Harry,” my dad called for me as I gave Hedwig the letter, opening the window so she could take it to Malfoy Manor.

“Give it to Draco,” I told her before letting her fly off and rushing to the front door where my dad was waiting for me. As soon as my dad grabbed me he apparated and we appeared in front of a tall, wooden house that was leaning to the left slightly. It looked as though each floor was added throughout the years. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was actually the case.

My mum knocked on the door and it was open a few minutes later, revealing Mrs. Weasley. She was a short plump woman with bright red ginger hair like the rest of her children.

“Welcome Lily and James,” she said as she pulled them in for a hug, turning to me and giving me a warm smile. She smelled like home and I found that I already liked her. She even hugged Remus and Sirius before ushering all of us inside.

Ron stared at me from the corner, while the only girl, who I assumed to be Ginny, simply stared at me with wide eyes before running off up the stairs.

“She has a crush on you,” one of the twins said from next to me, the other one appearing on my other side. “Well she has a crush on her savior,” the other one said, a grin on his face.

“I don’t even know her,” I said, looking at them a bit confused.

They simply shrugged and walked off to bug Sirius and I stood by the front door awkwardly. There were a lot of Weasleys in the room I noted. I recognized Percy, mainly because he was a Prefect and he liked to patrol the dungeons.

There were two older Weasley brothers that I assumed must’ve graduated. One of them seemed to have quite the amount freckles and was short and stocky. He was engaged in a conversation with Remus and they both seemed invested in whatever they were talking about.

I took a seat on the couch, holding a cup of hot chocolate as I sat by myself on the couch.

One of the Weasley brothers walked up to me, this one had long hair and it was pulled back into a ponytail. He had an earring, which I noticed was actually a fang. He was decently tall and rather handsome looking.

“I’m Bill Weasley. You’re Harry, right?” He asked me and I nodded, feeling shy all of a sudden.

“You must be shy, huh. Why don’t you go try hanging out with the others?” He suggested, pointing to the kitchen and dining room where the Weasley twins, Ron, the other Weasley brother, my parents, Sirius, and Remus were all hanging out. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were also in there.

I shrugged in response before saying, “I feel a bit awkward is all.”

“Well, do you want to play a game of Exploding snap? Hey Charlie, get your arse over here,” he called and the other Weasley brother, who I know knew was Charlie, walked over towards us.

“Yeah, Bill?” Charlie asked and a grin appeared on his face when he saw the game in Bill’s hands.

“What house are you in Harry?” Charlie asked me about half way through our game, attempting to make small talk.

“I’m a first year Slytherin,” I told them, mentally hoping that they didn’t make any snide remarks on my house.

“A Potter in Slytherin? That’s pretty cool,” Charlie said with a lopsided grin on his face. “I actually heard Ron talking about how you’re the youngest seeker in over a century at Hogwarts, is that true?” He asked me.

“Yeah, Professor Snape saw me catch a remembrall during flying lessons and told Flint that I was on the team. I won on my first match too, our next game is on February 9th. It’s gonna be against Ravenclaw,” I ranted on to him, I could talk about Quidditch for hours.

“I was a seeker too at Hogwarts. I probably could’ve played for England’s national team, but I decided to go to Romania instead and start studying dragons,” he told me and a second later another pair of his cards exploded, signaling he won.

“I win!” He yelled and Bill shoved him, catching the attention of the adults.

“What are you lot up to? It sounds like fun over here,” Dad asked, hopping over the back of the couch and sliding down onto the floor.

Soon enough we were playing another round, this time with my dad, Sirius, Remus, and the twins also playing. The house was full of loud laughter and talking for the rest of the night and I finally felt like I fit in amongst the Weasleys.


	7. Harry Potter and His Deepest Desire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate all the support I'm receiving! I'm currently working on the second book of this series and I think I should finish it within a week or two.
> 
> This book has a few more chapters before it's done, but you shouldn't have to wait long for the second book.
> 
> Hope you enjoy (:

The first week back at Hogwarts was a bit chaotic as everyone attempted to get back into the rhythm of the school year again. Even Draco had managed to wake up late and then nearly fall on top of Felix despite the cat being such a light color.

Flint had cracked down on us when it came to Quidditch practice, making it four days a week now as we prepared for our game against Ravenclaw. Draco still came to most of my practices, but Blaise had stopped coming due to the harsh weather.

I was working on my potions essay on the Wiggenweld potion when I took a break, my hand was cramping up from writing for so long.

Draco was chilling on his bed, absorbed in his D.A.D.A book with his wand out as he was most likely practicing one of the spells.

I opened up my trunk and grabbed out one of the chocolate frogs that Remus had given me for Christmas. I sighed when I saw the card, seeing Dumbledore’s name again. I was about to throw the card out when I spotted a familiar name.

“Bloody hell, Draco!” I shouted, jumping on his bed and making him jump out of shock. I shoved the card in his face and he looked confused until he actually read the entire card.

“ _Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel,_ ” Draco read out loud.

“Merlin, it was on that blasted card the entire time? I have about twenty cards of Dumbledore back at home,” Draco said, looking even more defeated.

“How dumb are we?” He asked as he fell back on his bed, slipping into his drama queen voice.

I rolled my eyes at him and sat back down at my desk, continuing to write my potions essay. I didn’t end up finishing all of my homework until decently late in the night. Draco had fallen asleep with the book on his chest so I gently took it off of him and set it on the nightstand. I pulled his blanket up, making sure to tuck him in properly.

I swung open my trunk, grabbing my invisibility cloak out. I grabbed a lamp, hiding it underneath my cloak as I sneaked out of the common room.

I headed in the direction of the library, wanting to look in the alchemy book section for any information on Nicholas Flamel. It wasn’t too hard to find the alchemy book section so I ended up choosing a book titled ‘ _Most Famous Alchemists and Their Impacts_ ’ by Rosana Amorim.

I took the book off the shelf and placed it on one of the library tables, setting the lamp down as well. I flipped through the pages, feeling grateful that it was in alphabetical order by last name. I skipped to the F section, going over each page quickly.

I spotted his name, my eyes widening in surprise when I looked at his age. I read a bit further down, reading about his most famous achievements.

_‘Nicolas Flamel is perhaps the most well known alchemist, being the only known wizard in history to succeed in creating the Philosopher’s Stone, which can turn any substance into gold. It is also known to produce the substance the Elixir of Life, which is meant to make the drinker immortal. Flamel and his wife both use the stone to stay alive and both are over 600 years old already.’_

I jumped slightly when I heard Filch’s voice, knocking over the lamp in the process and the light went out. I rushed to put the cloak on before quickly shoving the book on a random shelf.

I rushed out; hearing Filch exiting the library as he muttered about finding a lamp that was still hot. I took a sharp corner and froze, spotting Snape and Quirrell talking.

“You best figure out where your true loyalties lie, Quirrell. If you don’t, there will be dire consequences,” Snape hissed at him, pinning the man in the purple turban to the wall.

“Y-You see Severus, I-I-” Quirrell was cut off by Filch running down the hallway calling Snape’s name.

“There’s a student out of bed, Professor. Found this in the library,” Filch told Snape and held up my lamp, some smoke was still coming out of it. Snape followed him down the hallway and I allowed myself to breathe finally.

I didn’t recognize what part of the castle I was in as I walked around. There was a door next to an armor stand of a knight. There was something about the door that drew me towards it and I grabbed the handle.

The room was fairly dark, the only light source coming from the moonlight shining through the windows. The moonlight landed on a mirror that stood in the middle of the room.

I slowly approached it, stopping to read what was engraved at the top. ‘ _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_.’ Was written at the top of the mirror and I finally looked into it.

I dropped my cloak to the ground and my eyes widened as I stared at the reflection in front of me. I wasn’t alone, in fact my parents were there. Remus and Sirius were also there, but the person who stood out most to me was Draco.

We both looked a bit older in the mirror, around early twenties. I was smiling brightly with Draco by my side and I had a badge on my belt that said ‘Head Auror’.

My hair was even done up, showing off the scar on my forehead. No one was looking at it, it was almost as though it didn’t exist. A few of my other peers were in the background, Blaise and Daphne laughing as they spoke to each other.

Draco was smiling at me, his hand resting on my shoulder. His hair wasn’t slicked back like he normally kept it. His hair was still done up, but his blond curls were there and his hair looked a bit more natural. His gray eyes stood out the most to me.

They were full of warmth, the type of warmth that he barely allowed to seep into them unless we were alone in our dorm.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by a voice, recognizing it immediately.

“Mister Potter,” Snape said as he approached me. He wasn’t as mad as I expected him to be, he almost looked concerned as he stared at me. That’s when I realized I was crying. ‘Why was I even crying?’ I couldn’t help but ask myself and I wiped the tears from my face.

“Does this mirror show the future?” I asked him quietly, looking back in it to see my friends and family again.

“I’m afraid it does not, Mister Potter. Read the writing at the top backwards,” he told me and I listened to him.

“ _I show not your face but your heart’s desire_ ,” I read out loud. My face fell immediately, but the reflection in the mirror continued to smile.

“May I ask what you see in the mirror, Mister Potter? It seems to have affected you quite a lot,” Snape asked me, walking up to stand next to me.

“I’m in my twenties and I have all of my family and friends by my side. Draco is standing next to me, he’s smiling and his hand is on my shoulder. The people around me don’t stare at my scar or whisper about me. They’re focused on the things I do now,” I told him, my voice coming out in an almost fragile tone.

He seemed to think for a few seconds before speaking. “That sounds like a reasonable desire, Mister Potter. I won’t be taking points from you for being out after curfew. Do not expect me to allow this to slide again as I am being generous. Do not come back to this mirror again. It is very dangerous and many men have wasted their lives away in front of it,” Snape told me and I nodded instantly.

“Goodnight, Professor,” I told him before leaving the room, making my way back to the dungeons. I couldn’t help but wonder, what did Snape see in the mirror?

The next morning I ended up telling Draco about what I thought Fluffy was guarding, but I left out the part where I found the mirror of Erised and spoke to Snape.

My parents couldn’t make it to my next Quidditch game, but I didn’t mind at all as I zoomed out onto the pitch on my broom. We had to win against Ravenclaw if we wanted to even think about winning the Quidditch cup.

The game started and Lee Jordan was the commentator again. Ravenclaw had won their first match back in November against Hufflepuff, so if we lost they would be at a huge advantage.

I was as focused as I could be and I was also beginning to realize how much easier it was able to play the game without my annoying glasses. Despite the cold weather, I was sweating oddly enough.

I winced as one of the Ravenclaw beaters managed to send a bludger directly at Pucey’s head, taking him down. I needed to hurry up and find the snitch before anything drastic happened to the score.

I began flying as fast as I could around the pitch, my eyes roaming across every inch. Then I saw the small golden ball zoom by Gemma and I started chasing after it.

I didn’t know the Ravenclaw seeker, but he was gaining on me at a rapid pace.

He attempted to knock into me, but I raised my broom up slightly and he went flying into the opposite direction and I quickly reached out for the snitch. It was a centimeter away from my fingers as I reached forward.

I threw myself forward a bit and my hands grasped the snitch. The second my fingers touched it the stadium erupted in cheers, mainly from the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs.

“Harry Potter has caught the snitch, gaining 150 points for Slytherin. Slytherin wins 220 to 80,” Lee Jordan yelled into his wand and as soon as I landed on the ground I was surrounded by the other Slytherins again.

“If you work like that next game against Hufflepuff we’ll win for sure,” Flint yelled as he pulled me into a tight hug. I felt a bit awkward in it so I gently patted his back in response.

After the after-party Draco, Blaise, and I all made our way to Hagrid’s hut. Fang pounced on Draco, taking a liking to him most likely because Draco would feed him our rock cakes underneath the table.

“Ye did wonderful in yer match, Harry,” Hagrid said as he poured us all cups of tea. “I might even say yer better than ol’ Charlie Weasley,” he exclaimed, his eyes twinkling as he smiled brightly at me.

“He could probably play professional when he’s done with Hogwarts,” Blaise piped in and I blushed a little bit at the compliments.

“How is Fluffy doing? We know he’s guarding the philosopher’s stone now,” Draco said off-handedly while scratching Fang behind the ear.

Hagrid was about to answer when I spotted an egg in his fire. “What the bloody hell is that?” I asked Hagrid, pointing to his fireplace. Why did he even have the fire going on in his wooden hut?

“The only eggs you heat are dragon eggs, but they’re illegal,” Draco said, his eyebrows furrowing. “Merlin, you got a dragon egg? What kind?” Draco asked, standing up to get a closer look at it.

“A Norwedgian Ridgeback. I won the egg during a bet at Hogshead,” Hagrid exclaimed, smiling proudly at the egg. “He should be hatching in about three weeks,” he told us and I fell silent.

Did he realize how dumb this idea was? He wanted to raise a dragon in his wooden hut, and it’s illegal to own a dragon in Britain unless it is owned by the government or at a dragon reserve.

The blasted dragon egg ended up hatching in our lunch period during early March as we were all huddled in Hagrid’s hut. It was insanely hot inside and I took off all of my clothes besides my button up shirt and trousers because it got so bad.

We sat at his table as the egg slowly cracked open until the head of a little dragon peaked out. It was easily around 16 inches long already and this was it as a baby. I didn’t want to think about how big it would get within a month, so I chose to not even think about that.

We all visited Hagrid’s hut at least two times a week. As the dragon he named Norbert reached the age of three weeks and March was slowly turning into April, I decided I had enough of Hagrid’s antics.

“We need to talk,” I cornered Hagrid in his hut with the help of Blaise and Draco as usual. “Norbert cannot stay inside your wooden hut. Not to mention, do you see how small your home is and on top of that you have to keep him inside at all times because he’s an illegal creature. If you really care about Norbert you’ll let me help you get rid of him,” I told Hagrid and by the time I was done speaking he was crying.

“But where is he gonna go?” He asked me with teary eyes, gentle stroking the back of the dragon that was bigger than Fang already.

“I’ll owl Charlie Weasley and see if he can come and get him. He works at a dragon reserve in Romania with lots of other dragons. Norbert will have friends and be cared for by professionals,” I told Hagrid, offering him a smile to comfort him.

“That does sound pretty good…” He trailed off a bit, but within ten minutes we were leaving his hut after getting him to agree to my plan.

I sent off a letter to Charlie with Hedwig, hoping it reached him quickly as Norbert was growing at a rapid pace. Each week he seemed to grow a few more inches and his fire breathing got stronger than it used to.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t extremely worried that Hagrid’s hut could burn down at any moment.

Charlie’s reply reached me two days later during lunch on Wednesday.

_Dear Harry,_

_I myself can’t pick Norbert up, but I will be sending two of my friends to meet you on Friday at midnight on top of the astronomy tower._

_Try not to be late as we must do the exchange quickly. I will owl you as soon as Norbert makes it back to the reserve safely._

_Do your best not to get caught._

_Sincerely,_

_Charlie Weasley_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love it when you guys leave a review/comment, so feel free to talk to me whenever (:


	8. Harry Potter and the Cloaked Figure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just two chapters left! Hope you enjoy (:

Blaise, Draco, and I all waited until our dorm mates fell asleep before we slipped out of the dungeons. I had no idea how all three of us would manage to carry Norbert in his cage from Hagrid’s hut to the Astronomy tower, but we planned on at least trying.

“Shut it,” Blaise hissed at Draco when he sneezed and the blond looked like he really wanted to say something back.

“Both of you shut it,” I whisper-yelled at them, and giving them a glare.

We were a bit more relaxed as soon as we reached outside and began the walk to Hagrid’s hut. He ushered us all in quickly before showing us Norbert. I threw the cloak over all of us and the cage and began lifting it.

We all grunted from the weight of the cage and I was certain that our ankles and feet were showing at the bottom of the cloak.

I cursed loudly when Norbert shot out a small breath of fire and began walking faster. We were not quiet in the slightest, the empty hallways were full of us grunting occasionally and obnoxiously loud footsteps.

My arms were going to give out at any minute about halfway up the stairs of the Astronomy tower, but we were so close I knew I couldn’t just give up like that. The satisfaction I felt when we reached the top was unbelievable and I fell against Draco.

“Get off me, prat,” he said quietly, no longer bothering to whisper as we were clearly alone.

In the distance I could see two figures on broomsticks. When they got closer I realized just how strong they seemed to be, mainly because of the big muscles in their arms. Was it a requirement to be fit if you wanted to be a dragon tamer?

“This is Norbert?” One of the men asked me, he had black hair that was buzzed down, along with a few scars going up and down his arms.

“Yeah,” I said and pushed the cage a bit closer to them. They cast the feather-light charm on the cage and picked it up with ease between the two of them.

We waited a few minutes, watching them fly away in the distance.

“That was the worst thing I have ever had to go through,” Blaise said with a groan before slipping back under my invisibility cloak.

We were halfway down the stairs when we collided with someone ginger. My cloak slipped off and we all fell, multiple of us yelling quite loudly as we stumbled down the stairs.

As soon as I saw Ron Weasley I felt as though I could understand the utter hatred Draco held for the boy. I didn’t get to act on my anger towards the boy, because Filch appeared with a nasty grin.

“Charlie is my brother, he told me about the dragon,” Ron hissed at us while Filch dragged us to the dungeons. It didn’t lessen the anger I held towards him as Filch approached Snape’s office.

He knocked on the door and within two minutes it was being opened by a pissed off looking Snape. “Look who I found out of bed on the Astronomy tower,” he told Snape.

We entered the office and Filch left, feeling satisfied that Snape would give us proper punishment. I gulped as Snape stared at us, he looked beyond upset. The fact that it was around 12:30 am most likely played a part in it as well.

“I am beyond disappointed in the three of you. As Slytherins you should know that not getting caught is one of the most important rules in our house!” Snape yelled, one of his hands slamming down on the table making us all jump. “Would you like to tell me what you were doing out of bed?” He asked.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you, sir,” I was the only one to speak, my voice coming out a bit timid.

He went silent and his eyes narrowed in on me before he turned to Weasley. “What were you doing out of bed? Going to snitch on them?” He asked Weasley who simply nodded and looked down in shame. He was obviously lying. He most likely just wanted to see the bloody creature.

“10 points from your respective houses for each of you. I will not be deducting more points as I don’t believe your houses should suffer based off of your foolishness. You will be spending detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden forest next Friday evening. I will give all of you a detention slip when I have the time,” he finished.

He gave us all one more look before ordering us all back to bed. “If you step out of line again I will make sure to send a letter home to your parents and give you detention where you will have to re-sort my entire ingredient cupboard.”

We all rushed out of his office and I felt more than ashamed at my actions, more specifically getting caught in the act.

I curled up with Felix on my bed, not bothering to say anything to Draco or Blaise as they also remained silent.

I was left petrified whenever I thought about going into the Forbidden Forest, especially when I learned it would be taking place at 9 pm during the dark. It was the Forbidden forest for a reason.

There were all sorts of creatures in there, some even undocumented as a species because people couldn’t get close enough to them. You simply didn’t go in there, not even in daylight.

Dumbledore had to be absolute bonkers to authorize a detention inside the forest (although I’m sure everyone in the wizarding world knew that).

“We’re going to die and it’s all Weasley’s fault,” Draco groaned. Weasley shot him a quick glare which the blond returned with the same amount of ferocity.

Filch was leading us to Hagrid, who was apparently waiting for us at the border of the forest. “I miss the good ol’ days when we could chain students from the ceiling by their feet,” Filch told us, looking at us with distaste.

I couldn’t understand how someone could be as bitter and miserable as Filch. I almost felt sorry for him, it made me wonder what must’ve happened in his life that turned him into such a person.

“What took yer so long? Nevermind that, follow me kids. We’re already a bit behind schedule,” Hagrid said and handed Draco one of his lamps. Fang stuck next to Draco as we all walked down a single path together.

I would never admit it, but I had my arm looped with Draco’s the entire time. We stopped when we reached a fork in the forest and Hagrid turned to us. “Blaise and Ron will stay with me. You two can go with fang down that path. Something’s been killin’ the poor unicorns. We gotta look for any injured ones. At the first sight of unicorn blood I want you to shoot red sparks into the air,” he told us and I gulped.

“Come on,” Draco muttered, tugging on the hem of my robe to get me to follow him.

We were completely silent as we walked down the dark path. The twisting trees and random branches above made it look as though things were reaching out and grabbing at us. Every once in a while, we would hear something scurry by. Each time that happened we would clutch onto each other.

“Look,” I whispered, pointing in the dark at silver glittery liquid on the forest floor. There wasn’t enough of it to be worried, but the further we walked down the path the thicker the blood seemed to be and more kept on appearing.

There was a small clearing that we walked out into and my breath caught in my throat. The beautiful white unicorn was laying on the ground, taking shallow breaths. Even while injured and dying it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever laid eyes upon.

I wanted to help it so I took a step forward, but then I saw what was hovering over it. Draco and I both let out high pitched screams and Fang began barking and growling at the cloaked figure.

“Run Harry, come on!” Draco yelled, tugging at my robes while shooting red sparks up in the sky. I was about to run with him, but then my head exploded in pain right around my scar. The amount of pain I was in was unbelievable.

I could only listen to Draco screaming at me to move while he attempted to drag me as the cloaked figure approached us.

Then just like that it stopped out of nowhere as a magnificent centaur appeared in front of us, scaring the figure off. I fell against Draco, feeling the tears stream down my face from how much my head had hurt.

If the centaur hadn’t appeared I would’ve most definitely passed out within the next thirty seconds as it seemed the pain seemed to get worse the closer the figure got to me.

“Are you two okay?” The centaur asked us and I heard Draco respond for me, stuttering out a yes. “Lift up the Potter boy and both of you get on my back, I’ll take you to Hagrid. My name is Firenze,” the centaur told me, who I now knew to be Firenze.

I stumbled a bit as I walked towards the centaur, but with the help of Draco we both managed to get on the back of him. “Why would that thing hurt a unicorn? It was so beautiful,” I asked Firenze, still feeling a bit out of it.

“Unicorn blood can keep someone alive that is on the brink of death, but it comes with a terrible price. Because you killed something so pure and innocent for your sake, the second the blood touches your lips, from that moment on you will only be able to live have a life, a cursed one,” Firenze told us, his voice full of sorrow while he spoke.

“Who would do such a thing? Is it even worth it? Wouldn’t they be better off dead?” I asked him. I was confused as to why anyone would want to live only half a life.

“You’re right, Mister Potter. Unless they planned on using something to become immortal,” he said, turning his head slightly to look at me. “Do you know of what lies in the castle that could achieve that?” He asked me.

“The Elixir of Life,” Draco and I both said at the same time.

“But who is trying to get the stone?” I asked him, hoping he didn’t respond vaguely like most centaurs tended to do.

“Who do you think is waiting to return to power? Someone that is barely living with no powers that everyone believes to no longer be a threat?” Firenze said and I understood immediately.

I could feel Draco tense as I felt a shiver run through my body. “Voldemort,” I whispered.

Firenze didn’t confirm or deny if I was correct, but his silence spoke volumes. Right at that moment Hagrid appeared alongside Fang, Blaise, and Ron. They all looked concerned as Draco and I hopped off the back of Firenze.

“They should be fine Hagrid. The unicorn is just down that path. I’m afraid it’s dead now, but there couldn’t have been anything you could do to help it. I suggest bringing them back to the castle. They’ve had quite the night,” Firenze told Hagrid, who looked less worried at his words.

“Oh and Mister Potter, I sure hope the stars are wrong this time,” he said before disappearing into the trees. Put it up to a centaur to make everything perfectly clear and then leave me confused at the last minute.

That night when we returned to the dorms Draco told Blaise of what happened in the forest and his expression darkened.

I woke up in the middle of the night after having a nightmare which involved a bright green light and the screams of a woman. I opened my eyes to see Draco looking at me worriedly.

I didn’t sleep well that night.

Over the course of the week I had begun to regularly check on the forbidden corridor. I would peak my head in the door to still make sure Fluffy was in there and see if the trapdoor was still closed.

I was slowly becoming more suspicious of Quirrell. He didn’t seem like the type to be a follower of the Dark Lord, but it was always the person you least expected.

There was also the fact that he had attempted to jinx my broom and whenever I went near the Forbidden corridor I would smell garlic. Quirrell was known for smelling strongly of garlic, it was almost as though he had garlic cloves hanging from his neck.

Then when I had been snooping outside his office, I heard a peculiar conversation from within his office.

“I’ll do it, master. I-I promise, I j-just need a bit more time. I’ll make sure not to fail you,” he whimpered out and I waited for another voice. It never came, even after I waited about ten minutes for anyone to respond to him.

I confided in Blaise and Draco, both of whom seemed to want to go to Dumbledore. I argued with them saying that we had no proof whatsoever.

On top of all of this Flint was pounding us with Quidditch practices for our final match against Hufflepuff within two weeks and we were already beginning to prepare for exams that were in June.

In an attempt to distract myself Draco and I began working on a plan to prank Hufflepuff house. After spending hours in the library we found a spell that acted as a sensory charm that would activate any other spell placed within a specific time that you set.

We spent a little more time working on mastering a spell that would cause someone to slowly grow antlers over the course of the next hour until they were fully grown.

It was a bit of an advanced spell and Draco and I had fun learning it together.

“Anteoculatia!” I yelled while pointing my wand at Draco.

I keeled over in laughter as I saw two stumps appear on top of Draco’s head. “I should cast that on you for Christmas break next year,” I told him. My words came out a bit breathless from laughing so hard.

“Prat,” he snarked back and quickly took a sip of the remedy for the spell. All it took was an anti-growing potion used to prevent abnormal growths.

Snape had allowed us to use one of his potion rooms as usual, taking an appreciation to our apparent love for potions.

We cast the two spells on the archway of the Charms classroom, setting the spell to take effect whenever the Hufflepuffs had the class. By lunch time the next day half of the Hufflepuffs were missing from the table and they had no clue as to how it was happening.

“Whoever is doing that is bloody brilliant,” I overheard one of the Weasley twins say to each other. It felt like an honor coming from them, especially knowing them and how many pranks they’ve pulled on Filch over the years.

By dinner time everyone had heard about the Hufflepuffs and I was left with a sense of satisfaction and I slowly began plotting what prank I would pull on my house next year for the beginning of the school year.


	9. Harry Potter and Beyond the Trapdoor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little Thanksgiving gift for my readers that celebrate! Only one chapter left before this book ends (:

I was pumped for our final Quidditch match of the year, versus Hufflepuff. If we were to win this thing, we’d most definitely win the Quidditch cup even if Gryffindor won against Hufflepuff a week later.

Flint made sure to stress the importance of me catching the snitch this match only when I knew for sure that Slytherin would win. Draco and Blaise began to come to every practice again as it was now Spring which meant the weather was nice again.

“You look nervous,” Theo commented when he saw how pale my face was.

“Me? Nervous? Why would I be? It’s not like if I don’t catch the snitch I’m going to cost us the cup and the entire house will hate me,” I replied and my words came out a bit harsher than intended.

“Someone’s got an attitude,” Draco said with a snort while pointing to my plate for me to eat. He seemed satisfied after I ate four bites and finally left me alone.

“You ready, Potter? It’s all on you,” Flint said as we made our way out onto the pitch as he clapped me on the back.

“Oh gee, that made me feel a hell of a lot better,” I replied blankly. Flint smiled at me awkwardly at that before getting on his broom and flying up into the sky where Hufflepuff was. The rest of the team joined him in the sky, me included.

As always I scanned the stands for Draco and Blaise. They were always easy to find due to Draco’s bright hair and the fact that Blaise was one of two black Slytherins. They waved at me and I waved back, a smile appearing on my face.

“The match has begun, Gemma Farley gaining immediate control of the Quaffle and passes to her fellow team mate Chad Flint…” Lee Jordan began talking into his wand and I instantly began searching for the snitch,

The Hufflepuff seeker was a seventh year who had a lot more experience than me, but I was fairly confident I could beat him.

I was smaller and lighter which meant I was far faster than the other boy who looked around 180 centimeters tall.

A bludger whizzed passed me and Lucian Bole flew past me in an attempt to get the bludger. He wacked it and sent it in the direction of Heidi Macavoy, one of the chasers on Hufflepuff. I winced a bit when it went flying into her shoulder. It knocked the quaffle right out of her arm and Adrian Pucey caught it.

I turned my attention back to focusing on finding the snitch. Then it began to rain, but thankfully it wasn’t pouring too hard.

My grip on my broom became a bit looser as my broom handle got wet. The polished wood was easily slippery when you got it wet and I found that was a negative when it came to the Nimbus 2000.

Something golden whizzed by my ear and I made a sharp turn in an attempt to follow it. The other seeker was trailing close behind me because he couldn’t see the snitch well in the rain.

The crowd was going crazy and Lee Jordan forgot about the rest of the match and was talking about the Hufflepuff seeker and I chasing after the snitch.

I reached out my hand, gripping the wet broom handle with my other. A bluder narrowly went past my shoulder and my heart began beating faster. My fingertips skimmed the snitch and all it took for me to catch it was leaning forward a bit more.

The Hufflepuff seeker slammed into my broom with his as I caught it and sent me flying to the left, but I had still caught the snitch.

The Slytherins had never screamed louder and they all lost their cool as they gripped onto each other. It was quite a sight to see while I landed on the grass of the Quidditch pitch.

I was picked up and spun around a circle in the air and I was put down. I laughed when I saw it was Blaise, who was yelling in excitement. “Merlin, Harry. If you don’t set the record for the fastest to catch a snitch here at Hogwarts by seventh year I don’t know what I’ll do,” he said breathlessly.

Draco came to hug me from behind, but I couldn’t hear what he said due to the screaming.

I was carried back to the Slytherin common room on Flint and Lucian Bole’s shoulders. One of the seventh years cast a drying charm on all of us and I was set down as the music began blaring. I had a feeling this party was going to be a bit chaotic than the last one.

The Quidditch team and I were the main stars of the party and we all had a small group around us at all times.

I ended up in a game of Wizard Skittles and a game of Gobstones later despite the game’s reputation of being a particularly nasty one. Flint looked a bit hammered as he laughed, a game of Exploding snap had begun somewhere in the room and you could hear occasional bangs over the music.

I chuckled when I saw Draco dancing in the crowd of students with Daphne and Millicent. They were all smiling as ‘Do the Hippogriff’ by the Weird Sisters played and they did the dances.

“I would like to say something,” Flint yelled as the music was paused. “I would like to make a toast to our dear Harry, who is one hell of a seeker and without him I don’t know if we would’ve won the Quidditch cup. On top of that, this is probably the first season we’ve played fair with no cheating,” he said with a grin on his face, a spiked punch in his other hand.

“Hell yeah, to Potter!” The crowd yelled and I felt my face burn red as a random person put their arm around my shoulder.

“What are all of the ingredients to a Forgetfulness potion?” Draco asked me from his bed as all of the 6 first year boys huddled on our dormitory floor to study for our exams.

“Lethe river water, valerian sprigs, and mistletoe berries,” I said hesitantly, feeling as though I forgot something.

“You forgot the standard ingredient. It’s one of the major components to the bloody potion,” Draco told me and turned to Blaise and placed a pumpkin in our circle. “Make it tapdance,” he instructed Blaise who began practicing the spell.

I left the circle and began working on my transfiguration in the corner. I had a mouse on my desk that I had used petrificus totalus on it so I could actually perform the spell. I had to turn it into a snuff box and the prettier it looked, the more points I would score.

The day exams came around I couldn’t stop moving out of anxiety and Draco ended up throwing a piece of bread at my face out of annoyance.

It was a bit hard during the practical part of our potions exam, mainly because Professor Snape was breathing down the back of our necks the entire time. I was satisfied with my ending result and put it into phial and labeled it then did my writing part of the exam.

The only one I thought I didn’t do too well on was Herbology and that was because there was no practical part to the exam. Same with History of Magic, but I feel as though I didn’t do too bad despite the fact we had a ghost as a teacher.

“They really need to get rid of Binns,” Blaise groaned as we sat on one of the benches in the courtyard. “He’s so boring that I actually want to fall asleep in that class. How long has he been a teacher anyways?” He asked.

“Who the hell knows,” I responded.

“Wanna go to the Great Lake?” Draco suggested as he held up a card box of Exploding Snap. We all settled on going to the lake and walked down the dirt path. Blaise laid out the blanket on the grass and we all took a seat.

The sound of the waves was comforting, along with seeing the vocational tentacle of the Giant Squid. The squid also liked to hover near the Slytherin common room and dorms. He didn’t seem as scary as he was made out to be either.

We ate chocolate frogs as we played and I began to let my mind wander about what happened the past month.

Hagrid had managed to get a dragon egg, we had detention in the forbidden forest where I encountered Voldemort, and I just won the Quidditch cup and finished my exams.

How had Hagrid even managed to get the egg? I could vaguely remember him saying he won it off some bloke in Hogshead after he lost a bet. What kind of person carried a dragon egg in their pocket?

My eyes widened and I stood up without any warning. I began rushing towards Hagrid’s hut with Draco and Blaise quickly following me.

“What is it, Harry?” Draco asked as he struggled to breathe from running with me.

“Hagrid!” I yelled as I banged on the door of his hut. He opened it, looking confused when he saw my face. “Who gave you that dragon egg?” I asked him and I paused for a second to catch my breath.

“I didn’t see the bloke’s face. He kept his cloak up covering his face. But that’s not unusual in a place like ol’ Hogshead,” Hagrid said and then went on to assure us that it was ‘normal’.

I became even more suspicious, a cloaked figure in Hogshead with a dragon egg? “What did you two talk about?” I asked him.

“Well he seemed interested in all of the animals that I’ve worked with before. I told him all about Fluffy,” he said with a laugh. “He seemed interested in Fluffy, it’s not everyday you get to hear about a three headed dog. Told ‘em that all ye needed to do was play some music ‘n Fluffy fell asleep right away,” he told us.

My eyes widened and I turned to look at the other two Slytherins. “I shouldn’t ‘ave said that,” Hagrid whispered.

“I don’t think you should have either,” I told him before turning back to head to the castle. I needed to tell a teacher, preferably the headmaster that Quirrell or Voldemort could now get past Fluffy and get the stone.

We ran into McGonagall on the way to Dumbledore’s office. “What are you three getting up to?” She asked us with her arms crossed across her chest.

“We need to see Dumbledore,” I told her.

“I’m afraid he isn’t here. He just received an urgent letter from the Minister that he was needed at the Ministry,” she told us. “I’m sure I can help you, what do you need to tell him?” She asked us and all three of us exchanged a look.

“Quirrell is after the stone and he knows how to get past Fluffy,” I blurted out, cringing as I realized how that sounded.

“I do not know how you know about the stone, but I can assure you that Quirinus Quirrell is not after it. All of us teachers have placed protections on it as well. Now head back to your common room at once and don’t mention this again,” she snapped at us, a look of anger and disappointment appearing on her face.

I wanted to say, ‘but Quirrell is a teacher’, but I held myself back and listened to her. “Dumbledore isn’t here, which means he can grab the stone whenever he wants,” I hissed at Draco and Blaise.

I grabbed both of them and led them in the direction of the Forbidden corridor. “What the hell are you doing, Potter?” Blaise asked when I whispered ‘alohomora’ on the door. There was a harp playing music by the trapdoor, which was wide open.

I closed the door behind us as we tiptoed around one of Fluffy’s paws. He was snoring, all three heads were drooling as they slept. I looked down into the trapdoor and all I saw was darkness. “Lumos,” I said and attempted to peer inside. It was still pitch black.

“I’m going to jump, don’t follow me unless I tell you it’s alright,” I turned to Blaise and Draco. Blaise was sweating a bit and Draco looked a bit paler than usual, but they both nodded.

I jumped, feeling a bit sick to my stomach as I plunged into the darkness. I landed on something soft, relaxing instantly. “It’s okay!” I called to them and seconds later they were landing a few feet away from me.

“Harry, what’s happening?” Draco asked and that was when I realized the plant we landed on was slowly wrapping around us with it’s vines and squeezing down on us.

We began struggling, but then Blaise froze. “Stop moving, you’ll only make it worse. This is devil’s snare,” he yelled at us and I immediately went still even if everything in my body was screaming at me to fight back. Blaise was muttering to himself over and over again.

“Incendio!” Blaise yelled and pointed his wand at the plant. It hissed and began retracting from us. He said the spell a few more times until we fell through the plant and landed on the floor beneath with a thump.

“Thank merlin you actually pay attention during Herbology,” Draco breathed out and patted Blaise on the shoulder. The dark skinned boy was breathing a bit heavier, leaning forward to catch his breath.

“What did you get us into?” He asked me with a breathless smile.

I shrugged and turned to the next door. It was unlocked already and when I opened it there was a room full of flying keys. We all entered and closed the door behind us. I stared at the keys curiously as Draco headed to the door across the room and attempted to open it.

“Alohomora,” he cast, but the spell had no effect on the door. I spotted a set of two brooms and realized what we had to be.

“We have to catch the key,” I said and pointed to the Comet 260s on the side of the room. Blaise decided to wait near the door as Draco and I got on the brooms and flew into the crowd of keys. As soon as we began flying the keys began to attack us, the sharp edges of them creating small cuts all over me.

The key had to be silver like the keyhole so I began looking at all of the keys, hitting them out of my way as they flew all over me. It felt like pure torture feeling small cuts appear all over my body and I thought I would never find it.

Then I spotted it, a small silver key that way flying a bit funny because one of the wings was broken. I charged at it and the second I grabbed it every single key charged at me. I jumped off of the broom and tossed the key to Blaise who unlocked it instantly.

We all ran into the next room, slamming the door behind us and I could hear all of the keys hitting the door, making it rattle. I didn’t get a chance to catch my breath, because I was too busy staring at the biggest board of Wizarding chess that I’d ever seen.

“We have to play to get across,” Draco murmured and pointed to the door that was on the other side. I had a feeling that simply trying to walk across the board wouldn’t work.

“Harry, you’ll be the Bishop on a3. Blaise go get on the Rook at f8. I’ll be the Knight on g5,” Draco told us and we all listened immediately. Draco was the best at Wizards chess out of all of us. I didn’t understand the game whatsoever, but I trusted the blond to not get us killed.

Draco instructed us and our moves and I winced whenever one of our pieces got smashed to pieces by the white pieces. They towered over us and I gripped onto my piece tightly. Of course I trusted Draco, but that didn’t make this ordeal any less terrifying.

Despite my worries I realized just how close we were to winning with my limited chess knowledge. “What are you doing, Draco?” Blaise asked Draco. The boy looked concerned as he stared at Draco and I felt a bit confused. Blaise knew far more about chess than I did.

“What’s happening?” I asked, my eyes switching between the two at a rapid pace.

“The prat plans on sacrificing himself,” Blaise told me and a rush of cold went through me.

All color drained from my face and I looked at Draco for confirmation. He couldn’t meet my eyes. “When I move I’m going to give myself the white queen. I need you to checkmate the White King. Can you do that?” He asked me. He looked scared himself, but he didn’t say anything.

“Y-Yes, I can do that,” I stuttered out to him.

“Knight to h3,” Draco said and I closed my eyes as he moved. I heard the loud bang and Draco’s screams. I opened my eyes and saw Draco laying on the ground in a heap of debris. There was blood dripping down the side of his head and I felt sick to my stomach at the sight.

“Checkmate,’ I said after I’d moved my piece to the next spot. I froze as the White King began to move, dropping his sword to the ground.

Then I realized we had won and the game was over. I rushed over to Draco along with Blaise and checked for a pulse. My body sagged with relief when I felt his heart beating and I inspected the wound on his head.

It didn’t look too bad, but it was still particularly nasty looking. “W-We need to continue on,” I told Blaise as I took off my cloak and placed it under Draco’s head for him to rest.

We continued through the next door, albeit a bit reluctantly. The smell in the next room was atrocious and we quickly figured out why. A Troll was passed out on the ground. It was ugly looking with moles everywhere and grayish skin.

The next room was very obviously Snape’s, there were a few potion bottles next to each other and on the table in front of them was a piece of paper. It read:

_‘Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_

_Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,_

_One among us seven will let you move ahead,_

_Another will transport the drinker back instead,_

_Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_

_Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line._

_Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,_

_To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:_

_First, however slyly the poison tries to hide_

_You will always find some on nettle wine’s left side;_

_Second, different are those who stand at either end,_

_But if you would move onwards, neither is your friend;_

_Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,_

_Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_

_Fourth, the second left and the second on the right_

_Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.’_

Blaise snatched the paper from my hand and a frown appeared on his face. “Put it up to Snape to test a wizard’s logic. It makes sense though, most wizards nowadays just focus on the practice of magic and not other important areas,” he said and I couldn’t help but agree with him.

I watched as he read it a few times before carefully evaluating the bottles. “This one should take you forward and this one should take you back. These two are wine and those three are poison so don’t touch them,” he finally said after nearly ten minutes of debating.

“You’re positive?” I asked him as I grabbed the bottle that would take me forward.

“I’m not 100% positive, but that’s the one I’m most confident in,” he admitted. “I’m going to go back and get Draco and then get help, okay? You go on. I know you’ve got this,” he assured me and I nodded.

I couldn’t speak so I just took a sip of the potion. I waited a second and when nothing happened I turned to fire. I turned around just as Blaise walked through the other side.

I entered the next room and found the mirror of Erised again, along with Quirrell staring into it.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Mister Potter,” he said without a stutter.


	10. Harry Potter and the Man With a Face On the Back of His Head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh the last chapter. I'm just about done with the second book, so bookmark this series for when I post it. I really appreciate those that support me
> 
> I don't know if I've said this before, but the relationships are going to be a very slow burn.
> 
> I also wanna add that I'm preferring book 2 over this one immensely! You're going to see different sides of the characters and they're going to go through some growth.

“I thought it was you, but I wasn’t completely sure,” I spoke softly, afraid that if I acted out or in a way he didn’t like that he would try to kill me.

“I don’t seem like the type, right? Snape fits the description much better than I. Although, he seemed to be trying to stop me from reaching the stone. You know that too, don’t you?” He asked me and turned away from the mirror.

“I know you tried to kill me,” I stated as the man’s eyes bore into my own.

“That I did. I would’ve succeeded too if it weren’t for you blood traitor of a Godfather hitting me in the face, even with Snape muttering his little counter-jinx,” Quirrell snarled and turned back to the mirror. He was gripping the frame of the mirror while staring in it.

My heart was racing in my chest and I had no idea what I was going to. I settled on stalling my Professor as I waited for someone to come and help me. Blaise was getting help, it would all be okay.

“Why would you even support Voldemort? You teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, how you defend yourself from people like him. He’s weak and basically powerless,” I asked him in an attempt to make small talk.

“Why wouldn’t I? He’s one of the greatest wizards of all time. I know he will reward me for serving him. He gave my life purpose,” Quirrell said and looked away from the mirror for a split second. “This mirror here is the key to getting the stone. I see myself with the stone, but how do I get it?” He yelled the last few words as he gripped the mirror tightly.

“Use the boy,” a raspy voice said from somewhere within the room and I felt my blood turn cold.

Quirrell turned and began walking towards me. I began stumbling backwards and with a wave of his hand we were surrounded by flames so I couldn’t leave. He pointed his wand at me and I stood up. He grabbed me by my shirt and put me in front of the mirror.

This time I didn’t see myself when I was older, but I found the reflection of myself smirking while holding the stone. My reflection placed it in my pocket and I actually felt something appear in my pants.

“What do you see?” Quirrell asked me, his eyes narrowing at me.

“I see myself. I’m much older and I appear to be head auror. Everyone around me looks proud of me,” I told him and willed myself to look teary eyed to make it more believable. Quirrell seemed to believe me and let out a frustrated sigh.

“He lies,” the voice hissed out, returning once again. It sounded like it was coming from Quirrell, but his mouth hadn’t moved.

“Let me see him,” the voice continued and I began backing up a few steps out of fear.

“Are you strong enough, master? I don’t want to harm you or drain you too much. The unicorn blood only does so much,” Quirrell said, speaking to no one. The voice insisted and Quirrell turned to face away from me.

He began unwrapping the purple turban from his head, slowly revealing the ugliest looking face I had ever seen. My head exploded in pain and I struggled to pay attention. I was face to face with Voldemort himself.

“We meet again, Harry potter,” the thing said on the back of Quirrell’s head and I felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t have to respond, because Voldemort continued on talking. “Why don’t you hand me that stone in your pocket and maybe we could sort out a deal? I see myself in you,” each of his words came out raspy sounding with a slight wheeze.

“The only similarity we share is Slytherin house, Voldemort,” I told him, sounding a lot braver than I felt.

“You don’t know how wrong you are. We could both be great together as long as you hand over that stone. I’m the most powerful wizard in the world and I could help make you just as powerful,” Voldemort said in an attempt to manipulate me. “I will even let your mudblood mother live along with your blood traitor father,” he said with a sick looking grin.

I felt disgusted at the words that left his mouth, a flash of red light and my mum’s screams going through my mind. “You’re not the most powerful wizard,” I managed to choke out. The pain in my head was getting worse.

“Oh? And who may that be?” Voldemort asked with a snarl.

Who was the one person Voldemort feared? Albus Dumbledore. It was why he waited for him to leave the castle before trying anything with the stone.

“Albus Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard. It’s why you’re such a coward when it comes to him,” I snarked back with ferocity I didn’t even know I contained. The amount of pure hatred I felt towards him was unbelievable.

“Grab the stone and kill the boy!” Voldemort yelled and Quirrell charged at me instantly. I gripped the stone tightly in my hand, but it slipped from my fingers as Quirrell shoved me to the ground.

His hand wrapped around my throat and I felt myself unable to breathe at all. I attempted to inhale, but nothing filled my lungs. I grabbed Quirrell’s wrist and attempted to remove his hand from my throat. My other hand was fumbling for the stone on the steps.

As soon as my hand touched Quirrell the room was full of his screams of agony. I looked at his wrist and noticed it was slowly burning and turning into ash. “Forget the boy! Get the stone!” Voldemort yelled at Quirrell.

As Quirrell reached for the stone I put my hands on his face as a sense of bravery flooded through me at my newfound power. He screamed in pain and I watched with a sense of satisfaction as his face began to crumble underneath my touch and turn into ash.

He fell to the ground, slowly dying and I rushed to grab the stone. He was no longer moving and he was unable to scream due to my hands destroying his face with my touch.

I looked at the red stone with a sense of satisfaction. I turned around to see black mist, what I assumed to be Voldemort abandoning the dying Quirrell.

I attempted to run away from the black smoke, but as it went through me the pain in my head became unbearable and I fell unconscious. The last thing I remembered was seeing a pair of purple robes approaching me.

The first thing that I noticed was that my head hurt like I’d taken a bludger to the head. I groaned a bit and my eyes fluttered open. I was staring at something golden and I reached out to touch it, but my arms were still half asleep.

“Welcome to the land of the living, Mister Potter,” Dumbledore said with a warm smile on his face. He was wearing atrocious looking magenta robes, but they oddly suited the old wizard.

Then I remember everything that happened. “Sir, Draco and the s-stone-” I began but he promptly cut me off.

“Mister Malfoy is okay, he was dismissed from the infirmary two days ago and the stone has been destroyed,” Dumbledore assured me, but then I realized what destroying the stone meant.

“What’ll happen to Mister Flamel and his wife?” I asked him with furrowed eyebrows.

“They will eventually die. They have lived long lives and we both came to the conclusion that it was time for them to finish their affairs and say goodbye,” Dumbledore told me. I knew they lived a long life, but that didn’t make it seem any better to die.

“How long have I been asleep?” I asked Dumbledore after realizing he said Draco was released 2 days ago.

“Three days. Your parents, Mister Black, and Mister Lupin will be arriving very soon. I know the Slytherin house is also deeply worried about you,” Dumbledore told me as he put a lemon drop in his mouth. Then I noticed the amount of flowers and gifts at the end of my bed.

“Sir, when I touched Quirrell, or er Voldemort, it seemed to burn him and he began turning into ash. Do you know why by any chance?” I asked the old wizard. Dumbledore fell silent for a minute before answering me.

“I have a theory and it also connects to you surviving the kill curse. I believe that when your mother stood in front of you and offered her life in place of yours that a protection was placed on you. To put in one sentence, your mother’s love and willingness to sacrifice herself for you is why Voldemort cannot hurt you,” he told me, his eyes twinkling through his glasses.

“So it wasn’t me that stopped him all those years ago?” I looked to him for confirmation.

“I can’t answer that for certain, my boy. I will tell you this though, I believe that you will achieve great things over time on your own,” he told me and then patted me on the knee over my blanket.

“I believe your parents are here. You will be let out of the infirmary later tonight for the final feast,” Dumbledore and stood up just as the door to the hospital wing opened.

My mum looked worried as she ran up to me and pulled me into a tight hug. For a second I thought she was crying, but when she pulled away I noted that she was merely a bit teary eyed. Next my dad hugged me, then Sirius and Remus.

“What were you thinking?” My mum asked me when everyone got situated.

“Dumbledore wasn’t here. We tried to tell McGonagall but she didn’t believe us and sent us back to the dungeons,” I told her, unable to look her in the eyes. Instead I focused on my fingers and they picked at each other.

“I’m proud of you, but that was a very dumb thing to do. Two twelve year olds and an eleven year old are no match against Quirrell or You-Know-Who,” my father told me. He was only 32, but in that moment he really looked his age compared to the usual fun and goofy man that raised me.

“At least he didn’t get what he was after,” I butted in, offering them a shy smile.

“You did good, kiddo. Why don’t I take you to see that muggle band sometime?” Sirius said with a grin as he ruffled my hair. “Remus will come along of course,” he added and winked at the man.

“You shouldn’t be encouraging this behavior,” my mum said and whacked Sirius, who simply laughed in response.

The door to the infirmary opened and Draco walked in. He froze when he saw my family and offered me a smile. “I’ll come back later,” he said and turned around to head out.

“Why leave? I’m sure Harry’s missed you. Come take a seat here,” my mum said and stood up, patting the spot right next to my bed.

Draco looked a bit shy as he walked towards the spot and took it. It was very uncharacteristic of him, but I understood why he felt a bit awkward interrupting the time with my parents.

“How’s your head? It looked really bad,” I asked him worriedly. There was no cut on his head anymore and he didn’t even have his hair slicked back right now. I couldn’t see a scar either so it must’ve been healed by Madam Pomfrey.

“I’m fine now. Pomfrey healed me up right away since it wasn’t a magical wound. She made me stay though just in case I had a concussion from the hit,” he said to ease my worries. “Are you going to be at the feast tonight? The Slytherins are worried about their star seeker,” he asked and a grin appeared on his face.

My dad and Sirius laughed a little bit and I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I’ll be at the feast later tonight Dumbledore said. Did anyone visit you while you were in here?” I asked him as I shifted a bit to get more comfortable.

“My mum came, but my dad was a bit busy,” he said and I tried my best to ignore the flash of sadness in his eyes. “I should get going now though. Blaise will have my head if I don’t start packing my things. Goodbye, Mister and Mrs Potter, Mister Black, and Mister Lupin,” Draco said and bowed a little bit.

“I’ll see you later,” I called after him with a grin on my face.

“He’s so uptight with us,” my dad commented when Draco left the room.

“It’s just how he was raised. He was taught to be respectful to adults, especially to wizards,” I defended him with a slight pout.

“We should’ve raised you like that,” my mum said and I just laughed in response.

Blaise had given me a pat on the back when I arrived in the Great Hall and the rest of Slytherin looked immensely relieved when they saw I was in perfect condition. “I hear you killed, Quirrell. We should all be thanking you, he was a rubbish teacher,” Lucian Bole said and I didn’t know whether or not I should be offended he’d called me a murderer or appreciate his words.

I settled on neither and instead focused on Dumbledore as he began his speech.

“I would like to thank all of you for another lovely year at Hogwarts. Some unexpected things happened, some of you had some difficulties, but we are all here together for our end of the year feast! Before we begin I would like to congratulate Slytherin on their win of the House Cup and Quidditch cup. I would also like to award Blaise Zabini 40 points to Slytherin for logical thinking during the face of danger. 40 points to Draco Malfoy for sacrificing himself to save his friends, and lastly 50 points to Harry Potter for being brave and pulling through in a dangerous situation,” he finished up and the entire hall was stunned into silence.

Those points meant that Slytherin had obliterated all other houses for the House Cup. It was the biggest gap between houses in the history of Hogwarts. It sure made up for the house points Draco, Blaise, and I had lost while sneaking out Norbert.

The food appeared on the long tables and we all ate as much as we could. I was especially hungry from being out for three days and managed to consume three full of plates and a few pieces of treacle tart.

When we got back to the dorms I was about ready to pass out, but I still had to pack my trunk for the train ride home tomorrow.

Draco attempted to stay up for me, but he passed out on his bed halfway through my packing. I gave up shortly afterwards and settled on finishing it the next morning.

“Come on, Potter. You need to finish packing your things,” Draco said as he ripped my covers off of my body. I was hit with a wave of coldness and wrapped my arms around myself. He then proceeded to jump on top of me, giving me some warmth.

“Don’t move. You’re warm,” I mumbled as I slowly blinked the grogginess out of my eyes. He sadly did move off of me, and I got out of bed to start packing still in my pajamas.

Felix walked over to me and began rubbing his face against my knee as he purred. Draco sat next to me on the floor and gently scratched behind Felix’s ear. “He’s so cute,” Draco cooed at the cat with a smile.

“All of my pets seem to like you,” I said as a fond smile appeared on my face at the sight of the two. “Even Hedwig likes it when you pet her.”

“I’m just likeable,” Draco said and flipped his imaginary long hair.

I had finished packing up my things and instead of changing into my school robes I decided on putting on some of the muggle clothes Sirius bought me for Christmas. “Why are you wearing jeans with holes? I know for a fact the Potters have money,” Draco said as he stared at my ripped jeans. “And why does your shirt have words and people on them?” He asked at the sight of my shirt.

“It’s a muggle fashion style. A lot of teenagers and young adults wear ripped jeans for fashion. My shirt is a muggle rock band called Nirvana. These are the three members. Sirius thought I would like the band so he bought me these clothes and their music,” I explained to him.

“Muggle?” He repeated again, an odd expression appearing on his face. “Your mum is a mu-muggleborn right?” He asked me and I nodded.

“She was the best student in her year too. She was a Head girl and a Prefect. Apparently she used to be friends with Professor Snape, but I don’t know why they don’t talk anymore,” I told him as I put Hedwig’s cage in my trunk because she was going to fly home.

“She was?” Draco asked with wide eyes, seeming interested in knowing more.

“Yeah, just ask Professor Flitwick. She was also the top of her year in potions. She made a permanent eyesight fixing potion so I didn’t need my glasses anymore,” I said with a smile on my face. I was still incredibly grateful for that potion as I no longer had to worry about being unable to see if someone were to steal my glasses.

Draco didn’t get to respond to that because Blaise walked back in the room to let us know we were heading down to Hogsmeade in a few minutes.

Draco grabbed his own trunk and I grabbed mine as Felix followed me on the ground. I didn’t have to worry about Felix running off as he never liked to stray too far from me. We went to Hogsmead in carriages that seemed to pull themselves.

I felt a bit bittersweet as I stared at the train. Hogwarts had become like my second home over the year.

Blaise’s mum ended up picking him up directly on the platform of Hogsmeade, leaving Draco and I alone for the train ride. We sat in our usual compartment, the one we came to Hogwarts on and used during our Christmas break.

I fell asleep nearly straight away, my head resting on Draco’s shoulder with Felix curled up in my lap as he slept. Draco continued to read a book on potion ingredients despite the few teases I managed to get out before falling asleep.

I woke up about thirty minutes before we were due to arrive at Kings Cross station, my head still against Draco who was no longer reading. He was staring out the window in deep thought, an unguarded and open expression on his face.

I lifted my head up and he turned to look at me with a smile. “Enjoy your beauty sleep, Potter?” He teased in a whisper, not wanting to wake up the kitten that was still sleeping on my lap.

“In fact I did,” I replied, a smile of my own appearing on my face.

“You’ll write to me during the summer, right? And floo call me?” He asked me, his face suddenly looking a bit worried.

“Of course I will, Draco. You can even come over during the summer and play some Quidditch with me. We’ll have a sleepover and we can watch the Outsiders together,” I told Draco as I bumped his shoulder with mine. He seemed a bit confused at the last part, but grateful nonetheless.

“Here’s my floo address,” he said and held out a piece of paper for me. “When you call my house elf Dobby will answer or Tilly. If you call my room directly it will be Tilly, just tell her to get me and she will come get me,” he explained to me and I nodded.

My dad used to have a house elf growing up, but my mum didn’t want one because she wanted to do things herself and she found the thought of only giving the house elf a pillowcase inhumane.

“This will be the first time I’ll get to have my own friend come over,” I told him excitedly. The only person my age that came over to our home during the summer was Neville, but he wasn’t really my own friend. He was a family friend.

“You better not forget about me over the summer,” Draco ordered me with a smile still on his face, but it looked as though he was genuinely worried I’d forget.

“How could I forget that hair color?” I asked as we pulled into Kings Cross station. He whacked me, waking up Felix in my lap.

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is a bit short as it is the prologue.
> 
> I also want to add that Draco won't be perfect in this series and you will begin to see more of his flaws in book 2 of this series.
> 
> Character development is a big thing to me so expect these characters to change and grow as they age.
> 
> Harry will have a divide with some of his house mates due to their beliefs of blood purity and his mum being a muggle born.
> 
> I am also using these books as a way to improve and experiment with my writing style so, expect the writing to change a bit!


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